Baku, Azerbaijan, July 23
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Uzbekistan is going to create the largest technological cluster in the Central Asia on the basis of a new gas chemical complex (GCC), Uzbek media reported referring to Chairman of Board of Uzbekneftegaz Ulugbek Sayidov.
According to the latter, Uzbekneftegaz together with foreign partners has already started working out a project to create a technological cluster by building a modern gas chemical complex and developing on its basis related industries aimed at high added value production.
The chairman of the board added that Uzbekneftegaz will build a GCC capable of processing 1.3-1.5 billion cubic meters of gas based on the technology of MTO (methanol in olefins) and producing 200,000-250,000 tons of polypropylene, 100,000 tons of ethylene-propylene rubber, 100,000 tons of polyethylene terephthalate and ethylene vinyl acetate, 100,000-150,000 tons of ethylene glycol and polyethylene.
“We are also planning to build over 10 plants on the basis of public-private partnership for processing polymers with production capacity of up to 300,000 tons of finished products. The total cost of the project will be approximately $4.25 billion, $3.5 billion of which will be allocated on construction of the GCC. Uzbekistan is ready to invest 30 percent of its own funds in the project, and 70 percent will be foreign investments and loans,” Sayyidov said
In late April 2017, Uzbekistan commenced on construction of the new Jizzakh Oil Refinery complex worth $2.2 billion.
In June 2017, Gas Project Development Central Asia AG (GPD, a subsidiary of Gazprom International, 40 percent) and Uzbekneftegaz JSC (60 percent) established Jizzakh Petroleum JV. Enter Engineering is the general contractor of the project.
The complex is designed to process 5 million tons of oil annually, producing high-quality petroleum products.
Half of the investments attracted to the Uzbek economy are in the oil and gas industry. The volume of investments in 2016 amounted to $2.99 billion, reaching $3.63 billion and by the end of 2017, $2.65 billion of which was foreign direct investment and loans.
In January-May 2018, Uzbekistan produced 466,000 tons of gasoline, which is 0.6 percent more compared to the same period in 2017.
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