TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 9. Uzbekistan’s Tashkent plans to increase tariffs on water and sanitation services for citizens and businesses, Trend reports.
The Uzbek government explains the potential increase as a sharp rise in expenses in the water supply system of the country's capital.
The new water tariffs for citizens will amount to the following:
drinking water — 1400 soums (11 cents) per cubic meter
sanitatition services — 1000 soums (8 cents)
Meanwhile, the tariffs for legal entities will be fixed at the following:
drinking water — 3000 soums (25 cents) per cubic meter
for sewerage services — 2200 soums (18 cents)
Despite the planned increase, prices for water and sewerage in the capital will continue to remain below the level of the Tashkent region and other regions of the country.
Earlier this month, Uzbekistan expressed its readiness to develop a National Water Conservation Program as part of the Development Strategy.
In addition, Uzbekistan is implementing full-scale measures to improve the efficiency of water use in the country. Over the past 7 years, water-saving technologies have been implemented on an area of more than 1 million hectares, which is about a quarter of all irrigated land in the country.