Government will sell its stake in Pepsi Uzbekistan; Uzbekistan intends to import from Kazakhstan up to 5 million tons of oil per year; Asaka Bank signs syndicated loan agreement with CommerzbankAG and ZürcherKantonalbank; Uzbek President holds meeting to discuss reforms in energy sector; Uzbekistan and Poland discuss development of bilateral cooperation;
Government will sell its stake in Pepsi Uzbekistan
The state will sell its stake in JV International Beverages Tashkent LLC, which controls the Pepsi trademark. This is provided for by a Presidential decree.
According to the State Statistics Committee, now the state represented by the State Assets Management Agency owns 24% of the company Holten Group Corp. – the remaining is 76%.
JV International Beverages Tashkent LLC is also responsible for the Zip, 7up, Adrenaline Rush, Lipton and Miranda trademarks. The company’s plant opened in 2011 on the basis of the beverage manufacturer Sebur. In the coming months, it will be necessary to determine the price and time of putting the asset up for auction.
Uzbekistan intends to import from Kazakhstan up to 5 million tons of oil per year
Kazakhstan plans to export up to 5 million tons of oil per year to Uzbekistan. This was announced by the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Kanat Bozumbayev during a plenary session of the Mazhilis, Kazakh media reported.
“Uzbekistan is interested in purchasing up to 5 million tons of oil per year, including up to 2 million tons from Kazakhstan and up to 3 million tons from Russia. The option of supplying 5 million tons only from Kazakhstan is also being considered,” Bozumbayev added presenting the draft law of the Framework Agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on cooperation in the field of energy.
Construction of a new oil pipeline from the south of Kazakhstan to the border with Uzbekistan with a capacity of 5 million tons per year, an approximate investment is 133.5 million US dollars,” the minister explained.
Asaka Bank signs syndicated loan agreement with CommerzbankAG and ZürcherKantonalbank
On 18 February 2019, Asaka Bank signed a syndicated loan agreement with the participation of the Swiss branch of Commerzbank AG (Germany) and the Swiss bank ZürcherKantonalbank in Zurich, Switzerland.
This syndicated loan is the first – a “pilot” project for Swiss banks and Asaka Bank. The amount of the Agreement is 37.4 million euros with a maturity of 10 years under the insurance coverage of the Swiss export credit agency “SERV” to finance the textile project of Ko’kchatekstil LLC.
This project will create more than a thousand additional jobs, to establish the production of cotton fiber fabrics, dyeing, production of printed fabric, further to establish sewing of finished products. The annual capacity of the enterprise will be 20.0 thousand tons of cotton yarn and 4.8 million meters of printed fabric. Finished products produced at this enterprise will be mainly exported to the near and far abroad.
Uzbek President holds meeting to discuss reforms in energy sector
On 20 February 2019, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on the issues of implementation of investment projects in electric power industry and further development of the industry.
In connection with this the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan was organized by the resolution of the President. It has been given broad powers on eliminating problems in electric power industry and the oil and gas sector, providing a sustainable supply of economic sectors and the population with fuel and energy resources.
The Investment Program for 2019 includes 33 projects related to electric power industry with a total value of US$8.1 billion. This year it is planned to master almost US$620 million and implement 7 major projects.
The President gave instructions on qualitative implementation of these investment projects, elimination of existing shortcomings.
Uzbekistan and Poland discuss development of bilateral cooperation
A meeting with representatives of the Polish manufacturing companies Famur and Rafako was held at the joint stock company Uzbekistan Temir Yollari (Uzbekistan Railways). The event discussed the activities of foreign companies, technical capabilities of products, as well as development of bilateral cooperation.
At the round table, representatives of foreign companies made proposals on the use of new technologies in Uzbekkumir. At the same time, a number of new projects were considered. In particular, an agreement was reached with Polish specialists to develop a feasibility study for one of the projects.
During the meeting, the parties reviewed the construction of modern boiler houses.
Famur is a manufacturer of lifting transport equipment for: energy, mining, metallurgy, shipbuilding and offshore industry and Rafako company offers design and production of a wide range of boilers and devices for environmental protection.