American company Epsilon will increase production of natural gas in Uzbekistan; Kuwaiti Fund will allocate $30 million to Uzbekistan for infrastructure projects; Swiss company becomes owner of InFinBank’s 35% shares; Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover makes up $6.39 billion in January-February; Interdepartmental Commission for Work with the WTO held the first meeting;
American company Epsilon will increase production of natural gas in Uzbekistan
“On March 17, the company received industrial gas inflow from well No. 2 of the Talimardzhan field, which is part of the Kultak-Kamashinsky investment block, in the amount of 200 thousand cubic meters per day. This figure was achieved after carrying out the relevant work and cleaning the bottom zone of the well,” Epsilon Development Company reported.
According to experts of the American company, after the formation treatment, the flow rate of well No. 2 will increase to more than 350 thousand cubic meters per day.
Epsilon Development Company carries out geological exploration in the Kultak-Kamachinsky, Mubarek, Surkhani, Ashibulak, Koskudyk and West Fergana investment blocks. The volume of investments in all blocks will be about $5.2 billion.
Kuwaiti Fund will allocate $30 million to Uzbekistan for infrastructure projects
On March 14, 2019, the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Kuwait, Bahromjon Aloev, met with the Regional Manager for Central Asia and Europe of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Fawaz Al-Adsani, the press service of the Foreign Ministry reports. During the conversation, they discussed the issues of further development of financial and technical cooperation between Uzbekistan and the KFAED.
Fawaz al-Adesani noted that on March 10, 2019, the Fund’s Board of Directors approved the allocation of the second tranche of concessional loans in the amount of $30 million. These loans will be used to finance infrastructure projects included in the Program for the construction of individual housing in rural areas in Uzbekistan, which will be implemented in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Kashkadarya, Samarkand, Surkhandarya, Fergana and Tashkent regions.
Experts of the Kuwaiti Fund are currently preparing a visit to Uzbekistan to identify projects and prepare a draft loan agreement, which is planned to be signed in the second half of this year.
Swiss company becomes owner of InFinBank’s 35% shares
Swiss Capital International Group AG has become the owner of 35% shares of ATF InFinBank. The company purchased the stake on March 12. It now owns 140 million shares of the bank.
The Swiss company acquired the bank’s 20% shares in 2016 for $8.9 million, the cost per share was $0.32. Then company became the owner of 27.8 million shares.
For information, Swiss Capital International Group AG was established in 2010 as a diversified investment company. It has portfolio investments in a number of companies in Europe and Asia.
Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover makes up $6.39 billion in January-February
In January-February 2019, Uzbekistan carried out trade relations with more than 140 countries of the world. In particular, the foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan in January-February 2019 reached $6.39 billion and grew by $1.29 billion, or 25.4% more than the corresponding period of the last year.
According to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, exports reached $3.03 billion (growth rate – 20.4%), and imports – $3.35 billion (growth rate – 30.3%). Foreign trade balance made up minus $319.2 million.
The share of goods in the composition of exports reached 86.6%, of which energy and petroleum products – 16.0%, textiles and textile products – 7.5%, food products – 4.2%, ferrous metals and products from them – 1, 4%, non-ferrous metals and products from them – 4.6%. Exports, excluding gold, increased by 45.3%, reaching $1.8 billion.
Interdepartmental Commission for Work with the WTO held the first meeting
On 16 March 2019, under the leadership of the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, the first meeting of the Republican Interdepartmental Commission on work with the WTO was held.
During the meeting, the progress of implementation of current tasks was discussed, organizational and legal issues of the negotiation process on the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the WTO were worked out, the draft Memorandum on foreign trade regime was considered and approved, taking into account the constructive comments and comments of the members of the Interdepartmental Commission.
It was also instructed to draw up a detailed plan of activities for the working groups on assessing the consequences of joining the WTO, customs issues, preparing information on domestic support and export subsidies in agriculture, on developing measures in policies affecting trade in services, on making proposals for tariff concessions and illustrative issues under the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, the Agreement on the Application of Technical Barriers to Trade and the WTO Agreement on Trade Aspects intellectual property rights.