Uzbek President pays visit to Ferghana Oil Refinery

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 6 May, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited the Ferghana Oil Refinery.

The enterprise was established to accelerate the development of oil fields in Ferghana valley and provide the region’s countries with petroleum products. It is one of the country’s largest hydrocarbon processing facilities. The territory of the complex is 475 hectares, includes 52 technological objects. More than 7,000 people work here.

However, due to the equipment wear and technological obsolescence, the dependence of production on imports over the past ten years, the company has proved to be unprofitable. With an annual capacity of 6.45 million tonnes, the capacity of the plant dropped to 30 percent.

Modernization will open a new stage in Ferghana Oil Refinery’s activities

At the meeting on development of oil, gas and chemical industries held on February 21 this year, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev gave instructions on transferring Ferghana Oil Refinery to investors under trust terms. On April 10 this year, a resolution of the President “On measures to modernize Ferghana Oil Refinery with attraction of foreign direct investment” was adopted.

Modernization is carried out jointly with the Indonesian company RT Trans Asia Resources in three stages. This company has extensive experience in this field. Participation of a foreign company will contribute to the stable supply of the plant with crude and its processing in accordance with world standards, and the export of products to the external markets. In the future, it is planned to form a consortium of leading international companies.

This year, the plant is scheduled to attract direct investments in the amount of at least US$300 million. At the expense of these funds, work of 7 out of 11 installations now standing idle will be restored within two months. 7,100 workplaces will be saved, 450 people will return to work.

At the same time, the supply of the plant with crude is going to double. Starting from 2020, the plant is scheduled to master the production of high-quality diesel fuel complying with Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards. The cost price will decrease, while the goods quality will increase, which can in turn facilitate growth in the export potential of Ferghana region.

In general, the project is expected to attract investments worth US$875 million up to 2022. That would allow for modernization of Ferghana Oil Refinery, which is 60 years old, along with Altyaryk Oil Refinery Enterprise, established 110 years ago, and produce export-oriented goods.

Crucially, many people, especially youth, will be employed. Tax revenues are anticipated to increase by 100 billion soums a month.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke with plant workers and investors.

“The main objective behind all these efforts is to load the enterprise with full capacity and provide people with job. This will become a new stage in the activities of Ferghana Oil Refinery,” the Head of the state suggested.

Additional instructions were given to provide the plant with crudes and boost production volumes.