The Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan has issued a detailed explanation regarding the planned increases in central heating tariffs, pointing out that current service prices fail to cover basic operational expenses. According to the authorities, the widening gap between actual production costs and consumer payments is currently being bridged through direct subsidies from the state budget.

As previously reported, the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services published a draft proposal introducing new central heating and hot water tariffs in Tashkent for public review. The proposed adjustments aim to raise heating fees, with public discussions scheduled to remain open until the end of the month.

Ministry data indicates that residential heating tariffs are roughly five times lower than the actual cost of providing the service. To keep the sector afloat, budget allocations for subsidizing heating operations reached 3.5 trillion soms, with projections for the upcoming year slated to increase to 3.8 trillion soms.

Despite these massive financial injections, heating enterprises reportedly continue to operate at a loss. Official figures show that financial deficits reached 70 billion soms, followed by an additional 120 billion soms in losses during the first half of the following period. Proponents argue that raising tariffs is a necessary step to mitigate these ongoing financial shortfalls.

Concurrently, compounding structural issues within the sector were highlighted ahead of the heating season, during which extensive safety inspections of the housing stock uncovered over 607,000 safety violations, raising serious concerns over infrastructure reliability.

Source: podrobno.uz