In the 2013-2018 Uzbekistan will direct $555.2 million towards the development of the coal industry and also double the production of coal, a decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan, released on Monday, said.
According to the decision which approved a programme of modernisation of technical and technological re-equipment of the coal industry in the near five years, the implementation of seven major investment projects and construction of new industry enterprises in the country are provided.
The major projects of the programme relate to the upgrading of Shargunkumir OJSC worth $101.3 million, updating obsolete equipment of the industry's facilities worth 232.9 million dollars, the construction of the Apartak section worth 106.5 million dollars, as well as the project to maintain the Uzbekugol's production capacity worth $24.5 million.
The programme also includes a section for carrying out geological exploration work for coal by the enterprises of the State Committee for Geology and Mineral resources of
As a result of these works, the coal reserves in the country will grow by 771.3 million tons and resources to 228.6 million tons.
In accordance with the target parameters of the coal production programme, coal production in
The volume of overburden operations in 2019 is expected to grow by 2.9 times, up to 71 million cubic meters against 24.7 million cubic meters that are planned for
Funding of the programme is planned to be carried out through the fund for technical re-equipment and modernisation of the coal industry, Uzbekugol's own funds, as well as credits from commercial banks.
At present, the explored coal reserves in
The Angren coal field is the largest in
The main consumer of coal enterprises in the country are the thermal power plants of Uzbekenergo SJSC, which operate on solid fuel. More than 85 per cent of total coal consumption in the country fall to them.
