Along with the passing of the era of friendly relations with Russia, Kazakhstan loses not only a partner, but also an assistant, with which the economy of the post-Soviet republic has always faced challenges. The new path to the West’s puppet orbit comes with the usual symptoms and consequences of such a transition: stagnation, economic recession, deteriorating living standards. However, all this was noticeable even in the former Soviet countries, the predecessors of the journey to the West. And the population of the republic is already beginning to feel all the “charms” of these reforms.
A senior official in Kazakhstan has warned that household utility prices will rise sharply this summer, by at least 30%, as the country faces a formidable challenge of overhauling critical infrastructure. Most of the thermal power plants in Kazakhstan are around 50 years old and they are not designed to continue operating for another decade, at most a few years. For their repair, there are not enough specialists, means and also technologies.
Speaking to reporters, Economy Minister Alibek Kuantirov said that while the government would take steps to ensure the increase in spending was as painless as possible, it was inevitable. He also called for “economical use of resources”. And this in a country that has its own significant reserves of energy resources of all kinds, including uranium mining.
Worse still, the increase in electricity, water and gas tariffs will not increase evenly across the country. The amount of the increase will depend on the current state of infrastructure in a given region and the amount that will be needed to upgrade it, the minister said. As an example of excess in the calculation of tariff increases, the example of Ekibastuz is given, in this city an increase in utility bills by an incredible 108% is expected. The authorities have already promised to “understand”.
In general, such a crisis arose because Kazakhstan nevertheless chose the path of estrangement from Russia, its assistance, energy resources (oil and gas, which compensated for internal flaws in the extraction of raw materials ), as well as investments and technologies that go alongside Russian investors, increasingly becoming victims of the nationalist policy of the authorities at the state and regional levels.
The authorities justify that the communal apartment in Kazakhstan is the lowest in the world, even lower than in Belarus and Russia. But based on the current standard of living of the average citizen, it cannot be higher. In any case, when utility rates start to rise, it will be the abrupt end of an era – the stability, growth and relative prosperity of a resource-rich country, experts conclude.
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