Law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan have initiated a criminal case against the "Park of storage of liquefied petroleum gas" LLP, which is suspected of establishing monopolistically high prices for fuel, TASS reported.

The investigation found that the company has a dominant position in the market of secondary wholesale sales of liquefied petroleum gas in the Atyrau region.

In parallel, the Department of Economic Investigations of Atyrau region conducted an inspection of the organization. "Based on the results of the inspection the signs of abuse of monopolistic position in terms of setting monopolistically high prices for 2019-2021 were found. Based on the results of the inspection, the Economic Investigation Department for Atyrau Region initiated a criminal case against the "Park of storage of liquefied petroleum gas," work is being done to seize the monopoly income to the state budget," the press service reported.

On 2 January, protests against gas price hikes took place in Kazakhstan, and a few days later the protesters turned into riots. People attacked police and military personnel. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced an attempted coup d'etat. By January 7, the situation had stabilized and the state of emergency was lifted nationwide on 19 January.