In 1918, during the height of the Civil War, when the influx of funds from Russia had ceased, the authorities of the Semirechye region of the Turkestan ASSR decided to issue their own banknotes. These notes were backed not by gold, which was unavailable, but by opium stored in the basements of the State Bank branch in the city of Verny (now Almaty). By the end of 1919, the issued banknotes were withdrawn from circulation.