Tajikistan, the poorest state of the former Soviet Union, needs 25.1 million dollars (17.1 million euros) "to respond to urgent humanitarian needs... and to prevent a crisis situation expected in the spring and summer," the UN said in a statement.

The United Nations said electricity supplies would be at just 40 percent of capacity until the spring and that up to two million people would need food aid this winter because of knock-on effects on food supplies.

The Central Asian state is heavily dependent on hydroelectricity but is left vulnerable when rivers feeding its hydropower stations freeze over.

The UN said there were "catastrophic problems with heating, water supplies and basic social services." Hospitals, orphanages and schools are being forced to use generators that are not powerful enough to heat the buildings.

Tajikistan should also prepare for possible flooding in spring, the UN said.

Tajikistan has experienced severe power shortages for weeks because of the extreme winter conditions, with temperatures at their lowest in 25 years.

Not only have its own supplies dried up with the freeze, but there have been energy supply cuts from neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Some two thirds of Tajikistan's six million inhabitants are estimated to live below the poverty line. The World Food Programme says 10 percent of the rural population live with the constant threat of food shortages.

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