The Central Asian nation faced a wave of mass protests triggered by a sharp hike in fuel prices
Kazakhstan has had a rocky start to the new year, with protests spreading across the country. This is how a spike in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices turned into mass unrest.
Mass demonstrations have gripped major cities across the Central Asian nation in the first few days of 2022. The unrest was prompted by a sharp rise of LPG prices, which doubled in a matter of days.
The spike in prices did not come out of nowhere; it was the result of a sweeping reform launched back in 2019, when the country began its transition to electronic trade in LPG. The amount of LPG traded that way has gradually increased over the past three years, before reaching 100% on January 1.