The government of Uzbekistan intends to attract $120 billion in investments by 2026. This was stated at the second Economic Forum in Samarkand by the First Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan Omonullo Nasritdinkhojaev.

The state intends to attract these funds, including in the form of direct investments, through the privatization of state assets and public-private partnerships, the First Deputy Minister of Finance stressed.

According to Akmalkhon Artykov, director of the State Assets Management Agency (AUGA), more than 1 thousand state assets were sold to private investors in 2022. The main reason why large projects were not implemented is that “the process has just begun, it is on its way to the active phase,” Artykov said.

The head of the AUGA informed about the privatization of Ferganaazot. According to him, bids will be collected by the end of November. Earlier, at the opening of the forum, Deputy Prime Minister, head of the Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Jamshid Kuchkarov called the privatization of Ferganaazot a good case for Uzbekistan. According to him, the deadline for the deal was October 28, but the vendors asked for another two weeks to study the information. The minister promised that by the end of the year the deal would be closed, and next year the Dekhkanabad potash fertilizer plant would be privatized and the privatization of Navoiazot would begin.

Recall that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development proposed to postpone the privatization of Uzbek banks for six months. “In the current geopolitical and economic situation, we do not recommend the escalation of the privatization process. Together with the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), we wrote a letter to the bank management and recommended to postpone privatization for at least another six months,” EBRD First Vice President Jurgen Rigterink said at a press conference.

Source: Kursiv