Kyrgyzstan Announces Power Rationing

A scene of some of Kyrgyzstan's mountains in the Atbashy district (file photo)

BISHKEK -- The Energy Ministry of Kyrgyzstan has announced power rationing for swaths of the mountainous and impoverished Central Asian state.

The ministry did not say how many hours of electricity affected areas would receive under the plan.

It said that for the time being rationing would be confined to regions in the northern part of the country, near where a power line running between neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan reportedly suffered damage over the weekend.

The ministry cited freezing temperatures as a contributing factor in the rationing decision.

Kyrgyzstan suffers from chronic power shortages, something opposition groups have used in the past to criticize poor performances by previous governments.

based on local agency reports