Turkmenabat authorities in Turkmenistan prohibit citizens from queuing at state-owned stores that sell goods at subsidized prices. Thus, they reacted to the statement of the son of the country's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov that long queues "

Radio Liberty's Turkmen service reports.

In Turkmenabat, police officers ban lines at shops of more than four people. According to a local resident who spoke with reporters, those who protested are threatened by the security forces with arrest or expulsion from the waiting list.. In the capital of Turkmenistan - Ashgabat - it is completely forbidden to stand in front of shops.

The bans were introduced against the backdrop of the ongoing economic and food crisis in the republic and the growing demand of the population for subsidized goods.

Correspondents of the Turkmen service of Radio Liberty report arrests of citizens gathering in line at shops and fines for violation of social distance.

State-owned stores sell subsidized goods from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.. A liter of cottonseed and sunflower oil, a kilogram of sugar and a kilogram of rice are usually sold per month per person..

At the same time, citizens who previously could not purchase their food ration in the first quarter of the year are deprived of the opportunity to buy it.. The ration burns out.

On April 13, in the city of Mary in the south of the country, about a thousand people were waiting for the opportunity to buy two kilograms of frozen meat. It was sold for 36 manats per kilogram.. This is about $ 10 at the official exchange rate and about one at the black market prices of the currency..