During the first nine months of the current year, authorities in Uzbekistan identified nearly 2.8 thousand cases of illegal consumption of natural gas and electricity. According to official figures, the total financial damage inflicted on the state energy infrastructure surpassed 825 billion soms, highlighting persistent oversight and control issues within the sector.

Navruz Norboboev, head of the Uzenergyinspection information service, reported that over the reviewed period, violators illicitly consumed 29.1 million cubic meters of natural gas—valued at 390.2 billion soms—and 226.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, amounting to 435.1 billion soms. Such large-scale discrepancies point to systemic vulnerabilities in resource distribution and metering.

In addition to outright thefts, inspectors recorded approximately 4.2 thousand violations of energy usage regulations, prompting administrative protocols against offenders. Furthermore, audits of enterprise billing revealed overcharges for 199 business entities, leading to recalculations of 3.6 billion soms for electricity and 12 billion soms for natural gas that had been improperly billed.

Another critical area of inspection involved petroleum product quality. Authorities checked fueling stations and local enterprises, uncovering 308 instances involving 7,400 tons of substandard fuel that was successfully barred from entering the retail market and reaching unsuspecting consumers.

Source: podrobno.uz