I’ve just finished reading a BBC article on the plight of Tajiks (Tajikistan is south of Kazakhstan, not quite bordering it) who are really suffering right now. They have apparently had a severe winter so far, and with the rivers frozen, obviously their HEP plants are unable to work and produce much needed electricity. Not much to add to this personally, I just wanted to highlight the news, and provide a link to the report.
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Forgot to link to this article as well, sorry.