Baku, Azerbaijan, June 20
By Fakhri Vakilov –Trend:
In January-May 2019, coal production in Uzbekistan decreased by 15.3 percent, compared with the same period last year, Trend reports with reference to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan.
If in January-May last year, 1.463 million tons of solid fuel was produced, from the beginning of the current year this figure fell to 1.239 million tons.
According to the official statistics, the decline in production compared to the same period in 2017, when 1.523 million tons of solid fuel were produced, amounted to almost 19 percent.
The reduction in coal production is accompanied by a rapid increase in prices for coal for domestic needs. As follows from the data of the State Statistics Committee, the price of solid fuel for domestic needs increased by 1.7 times compared to May 2018.
According to assessments by Uzbekistan Railways JSC company, investments worth $547.1 million are to be made in national coal industry, due to serious shortcomings in the work of Uzbekugol (Uzbekcoal), which is part of the Uzbekistan Railways infrastructure,.
Of these, $32.2 million are to be provided from own funds, $58.5 million will be allocated by the Fund for Reconstruction and Development, $148.9 million from foreign investments and loans, $135 million from direct foreign investments and $172.5 million from loans by Uzbek commercial banks.
The need for investment in the coal industry in 2017–2021 has been set at $420.3 million, of which the bulk share ($238.7 million) accounted for foreign investment and loans.
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