TASHKENT

Uzbekistan and the French Veolia company plan to sign a private partnership agreement to modernise and manage the heat supply system in the capital Tashkent, a project worth around 1.4 billion euros.

Veolia is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services.

With international experience in managing heat supply systems in the cities of Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania and Germany, Veolia won the bidding organised by the Tashkent city administration, and the conclusion was drawn up by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The French company is to invest 315 million euros of its own funds, while 1.08 billion euros is expected to come from the revenues received during the project implementation period.

Uzbekistan is the most populous Central Asian country with 34 million people and its capital Tashkent, with a population of 2.7 million, is also the largest in the region.

Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that 72 percent of heat distribution networks and 90 percent of central and local boilers in Tashkent were worn out.

“This leads to an increase in costs and a decrease in the quality of service,” he said.

In 2020 44 percent of heating energy, which is worth $60 million, were lost due to aged distribution systems in the city, while 460 million cubic metres of natural gas, 55 million cubic meters of drinking water and 154 million kilowatts of electricity were overspent.

Within the project, it is planned to modernise 181 boiler houses, install 28,000 heat points, reconstruct 841 kilometres of existing networks and lay 576 kilometres of new networks. Also, an international system of technical audit and billing will be introduced.

It is planned to carry out an inventory of the property and buildings of the state-owned heat distribution enterprise Toshissikkuvvati before it will be transferred to Veolia for further managing.