Uzbekistan Dismisses Heads of 44 Power Companies After Audit

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The heads of 44 city and district electricity supply enterprises have been dismissed in Uzbekistan following a management meeting at Regional Electric Networks chaired by Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov.

According to the Ministry of Energy, the personnel changes affect regional electricity distribution units across several provinces of the country.

In particular, the heads of 14 enterprises in the Andijan branch of Regional Electric Networks were dismissed, along with 10 in Samarkand, 7 in Jizzakh, 4 in Kashkadarya, and 2 each in Syrdarya, Tashkent, and Fergana branches.

The decision follows criticism issued by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during a separate meeting on April 24, when he highlighted inefficiencies in these 44 enterprises and noted that electricity losses in their networks exceeded 20 percent. He stressed the need to replace leadership with younger specialists and set a target to reduce losses by half.

During the meeting, priority measures were also outlined based on inspections conducted by the State Inspectorate for Control over Electricity, Oil Products and Gas under the Cabinet of Ministers.

Working groups inspected 106,140 transformer substations, of which 25,668 were identified as requiring repair. Restoration work has already begun at several facilities.

Additional instructions were given to upgrade high-voltage transmission lines and accelerate modernization and reconstruction of electricity networks in problem areas.

The introduction of artificial intelligence technologies to reduce electricity losses was also discussed, with officials instructed to speed up implementation of the project.

Following a review of the gas supply sector, the head of the Khorezm regional branch of Hududgaz was also dismissed due to serious violations.