Uzbekistan and Russia plan to expand cooperation in the field of electricity

On December 14, a working meeting of the Ministers of Energy of the Russian Federation Nikolai Shulginov and the Republic of Uzbekistan Alisher Sultanov took place. During the meeting, the parties discussed current and future projects of Russian fuel and energy companies in Uzbekistan, as well as strategic directions of development in a multilateral format, including the future cooperation in the EAEU. N. Shulginov emphasized that the oil and gas sector remains one of the key areas of interaction between the two countries in the energy sector and added that “Russian energy companies do not limit their cooperation to existing projects and are ready to expand mutually beneficial cooperation with Uzbekistan in all areas of the fuel and energy complex”, including power generation, in particular, hydropower generation through the company PJSC "RusHydro". Among other things, the development of new projects is also facilitated by the successful interdepartmental work of the two countries in the field of energy within the framework of the Sub-Commission on Energy, created in 2019, whose meeting was held in March 2020. A. Sultanov congratulated N. Shulginov on his appointment as Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation. He stressed that cooperation with Russian companies in the fuel and energy industry is of strategic importance for Uzbekistan. The Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan also noted the positive development dynamics of relations with Russian financial institutions in the field of energy projects fundraising. Another important new area of ​​cooperation is production and financial processes digitalization of energy companies in Uzbekistan. At the same time, he stressed that "Russian energy companies do not limit their cooperation to existing projects and are ready to expand mutually beneficial cooperation with Uzbekistan in all areas of the fuel and energy complex." In the hydropower industry of Uzbekistan today, 5 projects are being implemented with the financial support of Vnesheconombank of the Russian Federation. Among them the construction of new mini hydroelectric power plants (on the Dargom channel and as part of the Nizhnechatkal hydroelectric power plant), the modernization of the operating Farhad and Tupalang hydroelectric power plants. Discussions are underway on partnerships for a number of hydropower projects.