By Trend

Asian Development Bank (ADB) will continue to provide strong support in the Uzbek government’s energy reform program through both its public and private sector operations, Trend reports with reference to ADB.

Energy Division Director in ADB’s Central and West Asia Department Ashok Bhargava discussed this topic at the roundtable organized by the Government of Uzbekistan, attended by various international financial institutions (IFIs) including the ADB.

Modernizing and reforming the energy sector is the centerpiece of the government’s ambitious program to transition Uzbekistan to an industrialized and upper middle-income country by 2030.

“ADB has initiated key reform actions to achieve financial sustainability in the power sector and has supported successful structural reforms in the largest state-owned enterprise in oil and gas sector. We are very much encouraged by the government’s plan to further intensify reforms and actively seek private investments in the sector,” Bhargava said.

ADB has been the largest investor among IFIs in Uzbekistan’s energy sector with a $1.7 billion portfolio spanning generation, transmission, and distribution subsectors.

Aside from infrastructure investments, ADB has also been supporting the power sector through various technical assistance grants for more than a decade.

Furthermore, ADB is a lead adviser for the power utilities’ sustainable debt management strategy, long-term power sector master plan, and financial recovery actions, which includes the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards accounting, development of tariff policy, and methodology.