AKIPRESS.COM - The article "Some rare good news for Central Asia" by The Diplomat, the decision of Tashkent on the resumption of gas supplies to southern Kyrgyzstan was reviewed. The magazine called it small but positive development for the entire region.

2014 was a bleak for the region but there are some optimistic changes which need highlighting. After 8 months without gas, residents of the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan finally got access to the gas – about 100 million cubic meters.

Reasons of such action remain unclear, according to the article. Tashkent previously stopped supplying gas to Kyrgyzstan in 4 days after Gazprom bought the Kyrgyzgas company for $1. Uzbekistan, on all the evidence, did the right thing deciding to turn off gas, as this hasn't been agreed with the supply agreement.

The Diplomat also mentioned about the meeting of Putin and Karimov, which at first glance didn't lead to any results but prompted the leader of Uzbekistan to a sudden resumption of gas supplies on December 30. There were no official statements explaining the reasons of this decision but it's clear that the meeting became a sign of warming of relations between Russia and Uzbekistan in the last few months.

Despite the current difficult relations between Bishkek and Tashkent, this fact became a surprise for everyone who was observing the situation in the region. Nevertheless, the countries of Central Asia started 2015 on a positive note.