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At the end of a normal working day, Kastriot (whose real identity is known to the newsroom), a Kosovar living in Kazakhstan, had to be locked in an apartment.
Worried and without much information, this young man in his 20s is waiting to see what will happen to the riots of protests that have gripped this country.
Kastrioti, who spoke on condition of anonymity, started working in the Central Asian country in 2021, through the company Mabetex Group, owned by Behgjet Pacolli, former president of Kosovo.
A wave of mass protests has erupted in Kazakhstan for four days now due to the sudden rise in the price of liquefied natural gas, which is used for cars in the oil-rich state.
Kastriot, along with other Kosovar workers, is living in the capital Nur Sultan.
He says that the current situation there is calmer compared to other cities like Almaty, but according to the order of the authorities, they are locked in the apartment.
“We have been locked up, we can not get out. “We can not go out either at the door or in the store,” he said.
However, large protests have also been announced in the place where he is currently staying.
“Normally we are scared because we do not even have an Embassy here. “Today (the company) brought us the passports and did not give us any news about what we will do, they just told us ‘tomorrow you have a rest'”, he says.
A massive interruption of internet and telephone waves in the country has increased the concern for these Kosovars.
“Family members are worried that we have not had internet for two days, because Kazakhstan has stopped it, which means we have not had how to notify them,” he said. The internet, meanwhile, is back on January 6th.
Workers on leave, their fate is unknown
In recent years, many Kosovars have managed to secure jobs in Kazakhstan mainly through the Mabetex Group. Vacancies for new jobs are constantly opening, and the last one was in December 2021.
In July 2020 this company had announced over 230 new jobs in Kazakhstan, mainly in construction.
Despite the efforts of Radio Free Europe, the company Mabetex and its representatives have not answered questions about the number of Kosovar workers there or their security situation.
Kastriot, a worker who deals with hydraulic systems, says that only in one area of the city where he works, 300 other Kosovars work with him.
He says that apart from the holiday announcement, they have no other information about what will happen to them next.
“Airports are closed, we are waiting for the situation to calm down. “The company has not actually announced anything,” he said.
So far, neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided information on how many Kosovars are currently in Kazakhstan and how they are doing.
Mabetex Project Engineering is a global construction company with subsidiaries in 18 countries. The company is headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland and has about 14,000 employees.
In Kazakhstan alone, according to public records, the company has done the construction of the President’s Residence in Nur Sultan, ministry buildings and concert halls there.
Other constructions include: the National Neo-Classical Drama Theater, the Opera and Ballet Theater, the Nur Sultan Airport, the building of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism in Kazakhstan, and others.
Kastriot, meanwhile, says he is concerned about his colleagues and friends who are in cities like Almaty with more unrest.
He especially sympathizes with the families in Kosovo who follow with concern the news from Kazakhstan.
“When our company has such problems, our company should inform our families or make a post. “The least he can do,” he said.
What is happening in Kazakhstan?
Kazakhstan is experiencing the worst street protests the country has seen since gaining independence three decades ago.
The eruption of instability is causing great concern in Kazakhstan’s two powerful neighbors: Russia and China. The country sells most of its oil exports to China and is a key strategic ally of Moscow.
A sudden rise in the price of car fuel earlier in the year sparked the first protests in a remote oil town in the west. But the tens of thousands of protesters who have since taken to the streets in many cities are now in the eyes of the entire authoritarian government.
President Kassym-Yomart Tokayev initially sought to calm the crowds by dismissing the entire government early Wednesday (January 5th).
But by the end of the day he had changed his mind. First, he described the demonstrators as terrorists. He then called on a Russia-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, to assist in suppressing the uprising, and the CSTO agreed to send an indefinite number of peacekeepers.
Kazakhstan police have said some protesters were “eliminated” overnight in the state’s largest city, Almaty, as they tried to enter administrative buildings, while national unrest escalated.
Of the five Central Asian republics that gained independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan is by far the largest and richest. It lies in a territory the size of Western Europe and is located on top of colossal reserves of oil, natural gas, uranium and precious metals.
But while Kazakhstan’s natural resources have helped it cultivate a solid middle class as well as a considerable group of incredibly wealthy tycoons, financial hardships are rampant. The average national monthly salary is just under $ 600.
The rally that triggered the recent crisis took place in the western oil city of Zhanaozen. Dissatisfaction has long been exacerbated in the area due to the feeling that the region’s energy resources have not been fairly distributed among the local population. In 2011, police shot dead at least 15 people in the city, who were protesting in support of laid-off oil workers after a strike.
When the prices for liquefied petroleum gas that most people in the area use to supply their cars doubled overnight on Saturday, patience snapped. Residents in nearby towns quickly rallied and within days large-scale protests spread to the rest of the country.
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