Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Residents of apartment buildings in Uzbekistan connected to central heating cannot disconnect their flats from the shared system and install individual gas boilers, Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services Ozoda Djuraeva has said. The restriction is intended to ensure the stable operation of buildings’ heating systems.
The issue of switching to individual heating was raised at a press conference on 14 October amid discussions about proposed increases in heating and hot water tariffs.
A journalist cited the example of an 80-square-metre apartment in Tashkent, of which 60 square metres are heated. According to her calculations, following the proposed tariff increases, the monthly heating bill could approach 600,000 soums and reach 700,000 soums when hot water is included. She asked whether residents in such circumstances could abandon central heating and install a dual-circuit gas boiler.
“Disconnecting apartment buildings supplied by central heating from the central heating system is prohibited,” Djuraeva replied.
She referred to paragraph 88 of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 194 dated 5 July 2014, which approved the rules for providing utility services. Under the document, consumers are prohibited from disconnecting heating appliances in individual residential and non-residential premises from the building’s shared heating system by dismantling them. They are also prohibited from making unauthorised changes to the heating system or installing additional equipment in violation of established requirements.
According to the deputy minister, interference with shared pipes can disrupt heat distribution and reduce heating quality in neighbouring apartments.
Djuraeva said inspections have identified cases of unauthorised connections to central heating pipes, conversion of heating systems to underfloor heating, removal of radiators and their relocation to balconies. Such modifications, she said, negatively affect system performance and heating quality in other premises.
The deputy minister also recalled restrictions on connecting new apartment buildings to the natural gas network. Authorities are gradually moving towards electricity and centralised or local heating systems instead of individual gas boilers.
In October 2025, former Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov said technical approvals for connecting new residential buildings to the gas supply network had ceased to be issued where natural gas was intended solely for heating and cooking.
Against this backdrop, the authorities are considering increases in central heating and hot water tariffs. The Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services has proposed raising tariffs for households by an average of 30% from 1 November 2026.
In Tashkent, the proposed heating tariff for Veolia Energy Tashkent customers is 314 soums per square metre of heated area per day, including VAT, compared with the current 241.44 soums.
The metered hot water tariff could rise from 8,928.67 to 11,607 soums per cubic metre. For consumers without meters, a monthly tariff of 45,330 soums per person is proposed, excluding the applicable multiplier.
For an apartment with 60 square metres of heated area, heating costs over 30 days would amount to around 565,000 soums under the proposed tariff, compared with approximately 435,000 soums at the current rate.
The draft government resolution provides for a review of heating tariffs in all regions of the country. It also proposes annual indexation in line with inflation from 2028, capped at 10%.
The authorities have previously set a target of gradually bringing household heating tariffs closer to the cost of providing the service by 2030.
