President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation dedicated to accelerating the transformation and preparation for the initial public offering (IPO) of Uzbekistan Airways, the presidential press service reported.
In recent years, Uzbekistan has been systematically reforming large state-owned enterprises, introducing international corporate governance and financial reporting standards. A key step was the creation of the National Investment Fund and the engagement of Franklin Templeton to manage it.
Last month, the National Investment Fund placed $690 million in assets on the international market for the first time, signaling Uzbekistan's readiness to operate by global capital market rules. Demand exceeded supply by four times, with major investors submitting bids worth nearly $3 billion.
“The task now is to accelerate transformation processes in the 13 large companies in the fund's portfolio and prepare them for IPOs. In particular, work is planned to be completed this year on companies such as Uzbekistan Airways, Uzsanoatqurilishbank, Uzbekgidroenergo, Uzbekistan National Electric Networks, and Uzbektelecom,” the statement said.
The organization of these processes was discussed during the presentation using Uzbekistan Airways as an example. Franklin Templeton representatives diagnosed the national airline's operations and developed a transformation program comprising 115 measures. According to calculations, full implementation could increase the company's annual operating profit by $120 million.
Specifically, additional revenue could be generated through route optimization, increased direct sales, improved customer service, reduced turnaround times, fewer flight cancellations and delays, enhanced efficiency of catering and maintenance subsidiaries, rapid market adaptation, and hiring qualified specialists.
As a result, the airline's market value could rise from $1.6 billion to $2.3 billion. However, it was noted that despite the program being developed several months ago, implementation remains slow.
The president emphasized that to prepare the company for international capital markets, it is essential to radically improve management quality, strengthen financial discipline, adopt international reporting standards, and enhance the credit rating.
By year-end, 15-20% of the national airline's shares are planned to be sold via an international IPO. Practical measures have been defined, including objective performance assessment, boosting investment attractiveness, writing off specialized aircraft from the balance sheet, and introducing a compensation mechanism for services rendered under state orders.
The presentation noted that rapid tourism growth also imposes new demands on the airline. Since the start of the year, tourist arrivals have increased by 27.5% to nearly 5.5 million, with notable rises from China, Malaysia, Japan, and the United States.
However, the national airline has been slow to adapt to this growth, with delays in expanding its aircraft fleet.
Consequently, the airline's procurement system is to be organized under a separate procedure, ensuring prompt decisions on fleet expansion and adopting international practices.
The president stressed that all opportunities exist to turn Tashkent into Central Asia's largest aviation hub. This requires coordinating Uzbekistan Airways, Uzbekistan Airports, and the New Tashkent airport under a unified system, and developing infrastructure, routes, and transit networks in an integrated manner.
Officials were instructed to establish a dedicated project office for systematic transformation of companies in the National Investment Fund's portfolio, recruit specialists with deep knowledge of international financial markets and practical experience to management bodies, develop a clear IPO preparation timeline for each company, and ensure strict oversight.
Source: kun.uz