President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, speaking at a videoconference on priority tasks in the fuel and energy sector, emphasized that the main problem in Uzbekistan's energy sector is not a lack of funds but the system's management.
The head of state noted that over the past decade, extensive reforms have been implemented, laws and decisions adopted, and the door opened for the private sector and foreign investors. He personally met with investors, listened to their proposals, and created conditions with necessary guarantees for each major project.
As a result, $23 billion in foreign investment was attracted to the energy sector, and power plants with a capacity of 9.5 gigawatts were commissioned, fully covering domestic generation needs. In recent years, 30 trillion soums were allocated to upgrade electricity and gas networks, substations, transformers, and gas distribution equipment—six times more than in the previous 25 years.
“I must say frankly. The problem in the energy sector is not money, because we find as much as needed. The problem is in the management of the system!” the president said. He pointed out that while the network infrastructure is nearly identical across regions, some districts work well while others experience constant accidents, which is due to differences in control and discipline.
The lack of execution and responsibility among leaders of the Ministry of Energy and its subordinate bodies was criticized. As a result, both the population and entrepreneurs are completely dissatisfied with the current work of those responsible. The president stressed that the work of every leader should be felt in people's lives and ease the difficulties of entrepreneurs.
Every year, dozens of substation accidents occur in summer and winter, and hundreds of transformers burn out. In June-July alone, about 4,000 accidents happened, leaving residents and businesses without electricity for 8-10 hours. Over the past five years, electricity consumption in Shirin city, Yangihayot, Yakkasaray, and Akhangaran districts has more than doubled, but officials and khokims did not anticipate that the networks could not handle such loads.
The president criticized that the damage from each outage to entrepreneurs and the economy has not been calculated. Because khokims do not know the exact energy consumption balance, billions of soums are wasted. Earlier, Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov was dismissed after nearly four years in office, replaced by Sherzod Khodjayev.
Source: www.gazeta.uz