Page 49 - BNE_magazine_11_2019

bne November 2019 Eurasia I 49
Aral Sea, gas processing plant.
Uzbekistan’s five-year goal to overhaul its energy industry
ture, the majority of which dates back to the 1960s and appears to have received little, if any, investment in the decades prior to 2016, when the new president took over.
Nuclear power without seawater
As part of the Tashkent current adminis- tration’s plans to boost energy genera- tion and diversify the mix available to average citizens, the country is embark- ing on its first nuclear power station in co-operation with Russia that is supply- ing the technology.
In conversation with Uzatom, the new government-controlled agency in charge of the new nuclear sector, the deci-
sion was made with haste to begin the programme in 2018. That, along with the growing population and increased power consumption during summer months due to climate change, has led to a pressing need to overhaul pretty much the entire country’s infrastructure.
But Uzbekistan is serious about building a nuclear industry, with a new com- mittee being created to facilitate and oversee its expansion over the next few years. It has also said that, despite the lack of interest from Western industry partners such as France and others, it would be building the first power plant with Russian experts. The common lingua franca of Russian, still prevalent in the country, would likely expedite the project as well.
“Uzbekistan is one of two double land- locked countries...the other being Liech- tenstein,” Energy Minister Alisher Sul- tanov told the press delegation on the
Daniel Rad in Tashkent
Uzbekistan under its new president Shavkat Mirziyoyev is a country gearing up for a bright future – or so they say. According to the seemingly youthful government, relaxation of its energy industry’s ownership has already created a bonanza of redevelopment projects set to be completed in the next five years. These projects, including energy generation and a general liber- alisation of state ownership across the board, have injected a new lease of life into this Central Asian crossroads.
“We’ve had thirty years of nothing, and now with our new president we have
to pull our socks up and invest our time and energy into our country,” said one local energy executive during a tour around Uzbekistan by the representa- tives of the newly established Energy Ministry. The young father of two taking a group of journalists around the far west of the country shines a light on a new generation of Uzbeks who have grown up only knowing the rule of the former president, Islam Karimov.
There’s a buzz around Tashkent, with several events occurring over the next few months highlighting investment in the country. The government has thrown itself into shining some light
on this, the most populous country in Central Asia and arguably the region's most attractive investment destination. Similar campaigns have been run to pro- mote the country’s tourism and cultural heritage in recent months.
The money being pumped into the coun- try and into development of the cities and towns far away from the capital is obvious, including Nukus in the salted deserts in the far west of the country’s Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic. The Mirziyoyev government sees the relaxation of the rules for foreign invest- ment as well as removal of visa require- ments as one of key drivers to boost the image of the CIS country.
“We’ve had thirty years of nothing, and now with our new president we have to pull our socks up and invest our time and energy into our country”
I am in Uzbekistan as part of the latest press trip organised by the Uzbek Min- istry of Energy and Eriell Group. This latest push by the Mirziyoyev admin- istration aims to secure foreign direct investment (FDI) in its ageing infrastruc-
serious issue of water use for the nuclear power plant (NPP). The lack of water means the country is heavily dependent on its neighbours and must carefully manage water flows for nuclear power projects and agriculture.
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