Page 15 - FSUOGM Week 09 2021

FSUOGM NEWS IN BRIEF FSUOGM

Georgia announces Black Turnava said. year under the State Asset Management
According to UzAssets, established last
OMV Petrom was given a six-month
Sea offshore production negotiation period that started last October, Agency to speed up Uzbekistan's
during which time it was trying to reach
privatisation process, the list of companies
sharing agreement to be the mutually beneficial agreement prior to includes the second-largest oil refinery,
making specific project commitments.
Ferghana, several chemical companies and
signed by OMV Petrom has said that the Georgian block would be wine and vodka factories.
OMV’s upstream director Peter Zeilinger
Bidders must submit their bids by no later
Georgia’s government has approved a production part of the company's strategy to expand than 18:00 Tashkent time on March 3.
sharing agreement (PSA) for Black Sea oil and its upstream activities in the Black Sea Last year, Uzbekistan announced a
gas that it is to be signed by the Georgian Oil and region. "This is another milestone following privatisation programme involving the full
Gas Agency and OMV Petrom in the nearest the signing of a contract to enter the Han or partial privatisation of more than 620
future, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Asparuh exploration licence offshore state-owned companies and assets. The move
Development Natia Turnava has announced. Bulgaria," Zeilinger said last June. was made as part of a drive to accelerate
Romanian oil and gas company OMV Georgia is the only country in the Black the Central Asian country's transition to a
Petrom, which won the tender for an Sea basin where oil and gas works are not market economy.
offshore block in Georgia last summer, under way on the shelf. equivalent to around Earlier this month, President Shavkat
in October started negotiations with the $920,000 per month. Mirziyoyev inked a decree providing for the
country's authorities for the PSA. acceleration of the privatisation process.
“It was in fact very important that
such a large company expressed a desire Uzbekistan seeks
to participate in the tender and it won it
in the summer of last year. During the consultants for asset
[coronavirus] pandemic, this comes as
especially important for the Georgian privatisation
economy. OMV Petrom itself is quite famous
for its activities in the Black Sea; in 2012 State-owned Uzbek agency UzAssets announced
they discovered a large field in [territory on February 25 the start of a selection process for
of] Romania, we hope that their activities consultants sought for the privatisation of state-
will be similarly successful in Georgia. owned shares in more than a dozen companies in
Oil extraction is a promising field for us," various sectors of the economy.

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