Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 2 December 2020, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan Alisher Sultanov held negotiations in Tashkent with the Managing Director of Rothschild & Cie Bank, member of the Supervisory Board of Rothschild & Co, Baroness Ariel Malard de Rothschild.

The experience of the financial holding company "Rothschild & Co" in the implementation of large investment projects, as well as in accompanying the privatization process, is of interest to the energy industry of Uzbekistan. In particular, the company currently provides consulting services in the process of privatization of financial structures of such CIS countries as Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, the foreign side was provided with information on the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas and electric power industries of the country in order to create a single energy market. Particular attention is paid to the strategy of Uzbekistan to increase the share of generation based on the use of renewable energy sources (RES) by 2030 to 10 GW and traditional generation - by 3 times. It was noted that electricity generation will continue to develop on the basis of the principles of public-private partnership (PPP) through foreign direct investment.

In turn, Arielle Malard de Rothschild noted that she was impressed by the ongoing reforms in the country. She emphasized that Rothschild & Cie has significant international experience in providing consulting services for renewable energy projects, as well as issuing bonds within the framework of these projects, transforming large companies and entering IPO (the process of placing shares of companies on the open market).

In order to enter an IPO, any company goes through numerous regulatory procedures, which allows it to become more documentary "transparent". Thus, the company becomes more attractive for investors, its financial stability grows, which is of great interest for companies in the energy sector of the country and their successful operation.

During the negotiations, the parties reached an agreement to work out the possibility of cooperation in the field of continuing the reform of Uzbekneftegaz, Uztransgaz and Khududgaztaminot, providing consulting services in this direction with subsequent IPO.