Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov answered questions from journalists related to the draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan on additional measures to introduce market mechanisms in the fuel and energy sector.

Let us remind you that the document was published on the portal for discussing draft regulatory legal acts.

According to UzA, the draft resolution envisages the establishment of new tariffs only for legal entities. Energy prices for the population will remain unchanged for now.

“Before establishing differentiated tariffs for the population, we must first ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity. That is, if the price increases, but there is another power outage, this will cause legitimate objections from the population. For this reason, we are currently accelerating work to increase generation and modernize networks,” explained the head of the Ministry of Energy.

The project on the introduction of differentiated electricity tariffs for the population is planned to be submitted to the government from 1 May 2024, only if uninterrupted power supply is ensured. However, this does not mean that “from the same day the price will increase, for now this is only a project,” the Minister of Energy clarified. “The differentiated tariff means that the price will increase for households that consume electricity more than the established “social norm”, for example, those who have a swimming pool, sauna and many household appliances, that is, relatively rich and self-sufficient households,” said Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov.

According to the head of the Ministry of Energy, currently 85% of the population consumes up to 300 kWh of electricity per month. However, he noted that the amount of electricity consumed by the remaining 15% is more than that of 85% of the population.

The Ministry of Energy has developed a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers on additional measures to introduce market mechanisms in the fuel and energy sector. According to the document, from 1 October 2023, it is planned to increase prices for fuel and energy resources for legal entities.

In particular, it is proposed to set the cost of electricity for consumers of groups I and II at 1000 soums per kWh. We are talking about Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine JSC, Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine JSC, Uzbek Metallurgical Combine JSC and their constituent production enterprises, budgetary organizations, as well as pumping stations. At the same time, for other legal entities - in the amount of 900 soums per kWh.

The document proposes to set the cost of natural gas for Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine JSC, Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine JSC, Uzbek Metallurgical Combine JSC and their production enterprises, as well as budgetary organizations in the region of 1800 soums per cubic meter, and for other legal entities - 1,500 soums.