Gasoline costs sparked Kazakhstan’s protests. For years, the Kazakh authorities had managed the costs of liquefied petroleum gasoline, or LPG, at appreciable expense. The federal government lifted these gasoline caps Jan. 1, arguing they had been unsustainable. In a single day, the value of LPG basically doubled in Kazakhstan — a worrying prospect in a rustic the place the gross home product per capita is lower than $10,000 a yr regardless of appreciable oil wealth.