Uzbekistan’s Winter Energy Crisis
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 March 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kate Adie presents stories from Uzbekistan, Turkey, USA, South Africa and Sweden.
Uzbekistan is one of the largest gas producers in the world but is in the throes of a full-blown energy crisis. People are struggling to keep warm amid the country's harshest winter in decades. Ibrat Safo reveals how people have taken to cooking outdoors on open fires, as the poor gas supply means it can take an hour just to boil a pot of hot tea.
The village of Ovakent in southeast Turkey is known locally as Little Afghanistan. After the catastrophic earthquake last month, the Afghan diaspora - who arrived in Turkey after escaping war in their homeland - are once again living with displacement and uncertainty. Mahjooba Nowrouzi has been to visit the village, which is located near the epicentre of the earthquake.
In East Palestine, Ohio, the derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals has left many residents fearful of the long-term health effects. Bernd Debusmann Jr travelled to the town, where people expressed their disappointment in the response to the disaster from authorities, leaving them fearful for the future.
South Africa is continuing to battle rising inflation and unemployment, with the country's worst social unrest since the end of apartheid a recent memory. But in the picturesque vineyards that surround Cape Town, it’s easy to forget the extent of South Africa’s problems, says Charlotte Ashton as she visits the 'Stellenbosch bubble'.
In Sweden’s far north, near the Norwegian border, where the northern lights frequently light up the winter night sky, Matilda Welin embarked on a journey off the beaten track. She recounts an increasingly rare experience – of unlimited access to the natural world.
Series producer: Serena Tarling Producer: Louise HIdalgo Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts |
| 0:05.1 | Today we're in Southeastern Turkey, where we hear from members of the Afghan community, |
| 0:11.3 | who once again have to rebuild their lives after the quake. A trained derailment in Ohio led |
| 0:18.2 | to a spillage of toxic chemicals in a small town. We hear from some of the people having to live |
| 0:24.2 | with the damage. In South Africa, wine tours in Stellenbosch are a savoured fixture on the tourist |
| 0:32.2 | trail, but there's a darker tale of past segregation beyond the manicured lawns. And we're in |
| 0:39.1 | Sweden's far north, where a hike in the snow off the beaten track leads to an unexpected destination. |
| 0:46.7 | First, we've all heard plenty in recent months about the impact the war in Ukraine is having |
| 0:52.7 | on international gas supplies and prices. You might think that, given their own huge reserves |
| 0:59.1 | of natural gas and their collective wary relationship with Russia, the post-Soviet |
| 1:04.8 | republics of Central Asia have had no such worries, but Uzbekistan has also suffered a domestic |
| 1:12.1 | fuel crisis, with many people struggling to keep warm in the coldest winter in decades. |
| 1:18.5 | In January, the Russian and Uzbek governments even discussed reversing the flow of a major |
| 1:24.3 | pipeline to remedy the shortages. The pipe normally moves gas produced in Turkmenistan to Russia, |
| 1:32.0 | but the need for heat and light in Tashkent was so urgent that they agreed to switching its |
| 1:38.0 | direction to get the gas flowing back from Russia to Uzbekistan. Keeping the home fires burning |
| 1:45.4 | through these bitter days has been a challenge, says Ibrahim Sapo. |
| 1:50.4 | I get out of bed. I'm already wearing tracksuit bottoms over thermal long johns I brought from London, |
| 1:56.5 | as well as two jumpers and a bobble hat. I'm renting a flat on the presidential avenue, |
| 2:02.0 | one of the most prestigious roads in Tashkent. I feel the radiator. It should be red hot at this time |
| 2:08.5 | of year, instead it's just lukewarm. This has been the coldest winter on record in Uzbekistan since |
| 2:14.8 | 1969. And to cap it all off, there's almost no gas. The temperatures outside have been below |
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