Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan opens Ammonia plant

JAN. 5 2021 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek pharmaceuticals company Uzkimyosanoat opened a new $985m ammonia plant whose output is expected to meet growing domestic demand for fertilisers. Media said that the plant, which has been described as “world class” and is one of the biggest industrial plants in the country, will boost Uzbek production of ammonia, the key ingredient in fertiliser, by nearly 10%. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has promised to invest in infrastructure.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Power failure causes blockouts and fuel shortages in Central Asia

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ALMATY/JAN. 5 2021 (The Bulletin) — A failure in the system that transmits electricity around Central Asia triggered the shut down of several power stations, causing blackouts across the region and fuel shortages in Uzbekistan (Jan. 5).

The breakdown of transmission lines also highlighted the fragility of the electricity transmission network, dubbed the United Energy System

Analysts said that a surge in power use in Uzbekistan was probably to blame for the breakdown of transmission lines. This triggered blackouts in Almaty, Bishkek and several regions in Uzbekistan because emergency systems automatically shut down several power stations.

Uzbek officials also said the blackouts caused a production drop at the Mubarek Gas Processing plant, in the south of the country. Drivers in Uzbekistan use gas to fuel their cars and restrictions were announced.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Trial begins of manslaughter over dam collapse

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DEC. 25 2020 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court began the trial for manslaughter through negligence of eight men who built and designed a dam in the north of the country that burst in 2020, flooding thousands of acres of farmland, forcing 70,000 people to flee their homes and killing six people. The case is being closely watched in Uzbekistan. Officials said that they suspected that corruption was partly to blame for the failure of the dam, which was finished in 2017.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

EBRD and World Bank lend for Uzbek solar project

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DEC. 23 2020 (The Bulletin) — The EBRD, the ADB and the World Bank agreed to lend the Uzbek government $125m to finance its first solar power project. The plant is being built in Uzbekistan’s industrial heartland in Navoi by Masdar, an Abdu Dhabi company and will produce 270 gigawatt hours of energy per year, which Bloomberg said was enough to power 31,000 households.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Carrefour opens first store in Uzbekistan

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TASHKENT/DEC. 22 2020 (The Bulletin) — Carrefour, the French hypermarket brand, opened its first store in Tashkent, part of a plan to open up seven in the Uzbek capital.

Majid Al Futtaim, the Dubai-based retail and leisure franchise operator, said that the store would offer Tashkent residents their first access to a major European supermarket brand and all its products.

“As one of the most recognised retail brands in the world, Carrefour introduces an elevated shopping experience to the Uzbek market through its international standards and retail best practices, customer service, and best in-store hygiene processes,” Majid Al Futtaim said in a statement.

The coronavirus pandemic, though, appears to have dented Majid Al Futtaim’s ambitions. In 2019, it promised to open four stores by the end of 2020 in Uzbekistan and another three by the end of 2021.

Majid Al Futtaim has opened Carrefour stores in Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan over the past few years. The Carrefour store in Almaty was closed in 2017, 15 months after it opened, because of a lack of interest from shoppers.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Armenia and Uzbekistan keeps interest rates steady

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JULY 23/28 (The Bulletin) — The Central Banks of Armenia and Uzbekistan kept their interest rates unchanged, despite pressure to cut the cost of borrowing to help businesses fight an expected recession linked to the coronavirus pandemic. Armenia’s Central Bank said that despite deflationary pressures, its consumer price index still measured a 1.7% rise in prices over the past 12 months.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Uzbekistan looks for company to run national lottery

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JULY 28 (The Bulletin) — The Uzbek government is looking for a company to run its new national lottery, potentially opening up to a Western operator. The government plans a new national lottery when betting rules are relaxed next year. The current lottery, which has been the only legal form of gambling in Uzbekistan since 2007, will be scrapped.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Georgia’s TBC Bank launches online bank in Uzbekistan

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JULY 24 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s TBC Bank launched its digital subsidiary bank in Uzbekistan. TBC, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has branded the bank as the first fully online bank in Uzbekistan. It has followed Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank in setting up a subsidiary in Uzbekistan but while Halyk Bank has said it is targeting lending out to businesses, TBC has said that it is targeting ordinary people.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

More loans given to support SMEs in Uzbekistan

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JUNE 23 (The Bulletin) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved another loan of $40 million to UzPromstroybank to be lent out to SMEs that need support to survive the impact of an anti-coronavirus lockdown. Like other international financial institutions, the EBRD has increased lending to Uzbekistan to help it deal with the coronavirus. The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, also gave a second Uzbek bank, Ipoteka-Bank, a loan of $35m.

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— This story was first published in issue 451 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, published on June 23 2020

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Uzbek police reimpose coronavirus lockdown in parts of Tashkent

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JUNE 22 (The Bulletin) — Police in Tashkent erected roadblocks around a suburbs where spikes in people infected with the coronavirus have been recorded. The authorities have lifted coronavirus lockdown restrictions but have also said that 71 neighbourhoods of Tashkent are considered to be so-called ‘Red Zones’. Uzbekistan has recorded 6,901 coronavirus cases and 19 deaths.

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— This story was first published in issue 451 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, published on June 23 2020