Kyrgyz Prime Minister Joomart Otorbaev has called on citizens and businesses to prepare to use coal instead of natural gas during the upcoming winter.
Otorbaev said on July 23 that there is no sign that Uzbekistan will resume natural gas deliveries to Kyrgyzstan anytime soon.
Uzbekistan cut natural-gas deliveries to Kyrgyzstan on April 14 after Bishkek sold a majority stake in its state KyrgyzGaz natural-gas company to Russia's Gazprom.
The move mainly affected Kyrgyzstan's southern regions, where residents have staged several protests since April demanding that local authorities solve the problem.
