Uzbekistan will invest in US Treasury bonds; Russian companies will supply equipment for Tashkent metallurgical plant; Turkey will conduct a geological study of gold and tungsten in Uzbekistan; Uzbekenergo to implement investment projects for US$4.4 billion in 2019; Uzbekistan and Alshaya Group discuss investment cooperation prospects;
Uzbekistan will invest in US Treasury bonds
Uzbekistan plans to reduce the share of gold in its foreign exchange reserves and buy US treasury bonds instead, Finance Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov said on Thursday. About this writes Reuters.
“From the beginning of this year, the Central Bank is going to diversify its reserves management methods and buy some US treasury obligations,” Kuchkarov told the agency during a visit to London.
According to the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Timur Ishmetov, half of Uzbekistan’s reserves are stored in gold now as the republic mines gold sufficiently:
“We plan to gradually reduce the share of gold in our reserves and add US treasury bonds,” Ishmetov told the agency.
Russian companies will supply equipment for Tashkent metallurgical plant
A number of leading Russian companies signed contracts for the supply of technological equipment for the Tashkent Metallurgical Plant (TMZ) being built, the press service of TMZ said in a statement.
“The project is financed by a foreign investor, the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan, and the loan funds of Roseximbank. Credit lines pass through Asaka and Uzpromstroybank. These funds are allocated under the insurance coverage of the Russian Agency for Insurance EXIAR” – said the technical director of the company Valery Osin.
Total cost of the project exceeds 286 million euros. The MetProm group of companies has been selected as the general contractor for the construction of the TMZ. Today, it is one of the leading design and construction organizations in the metallurgical industry in Russia. The launch of the plant is scheduled for December 2019.
SFI Management Group manages the construction project of the Tashkent Metallurgical Plant. It also manages the state’s share in other flagships of Uzbekistan’s industry, the Almalyk MMC and Uzmetkombinat.
Turkey will conduct a geological study of gold and tungsten in Uzbekistan
The Geological Survey of Turkey (MTA) under the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey and the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Geology and Mineral Resources signed an agreement on geological exploration and pilot production at Sarytau, Khurob and Aydym-Djetimuu fields, perspective areas for tungsten and gold in Navoi and Jizzakh regions of Uzbekistan.
In accordance with the agreement, the parties will prepare an integrated technical and economic calculations with a description of the planned field work. It is planned to attract about US$2 million in the form of foreign direct investment for geological exploration.
Within the 3 project areas, aerogeophysical work, remote sensing, geochemical analysis of samples, geochemical prospecting, map-composition work, well drilling and office work will be carried out.
Based on to the results of the first stage of the project, the Program of work and Budget for the next stages of work will be developed and approved by the parties.
Uzbekenergo to implement investment projects for US$4.4 billion in 2019
“Uzbekenergo plans to implement 14 investment projects with a total value of US$4.4 billion in 2019”, Deputy Director of Uzbekenergo Akmal Abbasov said during the Uzbek-Swedish business forum on 13 February 2019.
According to him, among these projects are the construction of gas turbines, power lines and the modernization of low-voltage networks.
Abbasov noted that Uzbekistan continues to work on the construction of a new 500 kV transmission line Surkhan – Puli – Khumri. The construction of this line will allow increasing the export of electricity from 2.5 billion kWh in 2018 to 8 billion kWh.
Uzbekistan and Alshaya Group discuss investment cooperation prospects
On February 14 the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan hosted a meeting with the delegation of the Alshaya Group, led by the executive director Mohammed al-Shaya, who is also the chairman of a large construction company Mabanee Company SAK.
The Alshaya Group is a multinational retail franchise operator and is widely represented in the Middle East, North Africa, Russia, Turkey and Europe.
The delegation of Alshaya Group expressed a special interest in the development of the hotel business: both through the construction of new buildings and the possibility of privatizing existing facilities that need renovation for further use. One of these objects could be the hotel “Uzbekistan”.