ZCZC
BCN-04
UZBEKISTAN-ECONOMY-ENERGY
Uzbekistan announces plan to sell stake in state energy company
TASHKENT, July 13, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Energy-rich Uzbekistan announced
Friday it plans to sell off a stake in its state energy company as the
Central Asian country seeks to attract foreign investment in a sector long
shrouded in secrecy.
Uzbekistan’s energy ministry in a statement that the state energy company
Uzbekneftegaz was looking to sell off “up to 49 percent of shares” by 2024 as
part of restructuring ordered by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The president is looking to break out from the economic straitjacket
imposed by his hardline predecessor Islam Karimov and encourage more foreign
investment and trade.
“Measures are to be taken to attract investment in Uzbekneftegaz by
primary and secondary public placement of up to 49 percent of shares not
later than 2024,” the statement said.
The restructuring will also see the company that runs transportation of
oil and gas, Uztranzgas, split off from Uzbekneftegaz.
The energy ministry said the restructure was necessary “to satisfy
domestic and international energy needs” and “attract investments and bring
Uzbekneftegaz closer to capital markets.”
Uzbekneftegaz on Friday revealed for the first time data on natural gas
production in the country, which kept important economic data confidential
under the late Karimov, who took power before the country’s independence from
the USSR and died in 2016.
Chairman Bahodirjon Sidikov was quoted as saying that the company
extracted 35 to 40 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually while foreign
companies extracted the remainder of the total of 61 billion cubic metres.
Uzbekistan’s current proven hydrocarbon reserves are sufficient for the
next 20 to 30 years, he said. The country has some 1.1 trillion cubic metres
of proven natural gas reserves.
BSS/AFP/HR/0935