Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan’s National Investment Fund (UzNIF) expects to conduct the first two initial public offerings (IPOs) of its portfolio companies in 2027, with Uzbektelecom among the leading candidates. The fund plans to make its first dividend payments to shareholders in the first half of 2028, Marius Dan, managing director for Central Asia at Templeton Global Investments, said in an interview with Gazeta.uz.
Managed by international investment firm Franklin Templeton, UzNIF conducted its IPO on the London and Tashkent stock exchanges in May 2026, raising nearly US$700 million for the state. Its portfolio includes stakes in 13 state-owned companies and other assets, including Uzbekistan Airways, Uzbektelecom, SQB and enterprises in the energy sector.
Dan said Uzbektelecom had been identified as a potential first portfolio company to go public, while preparations would proceed in parallel for transactions involving several other companies named in a presidential decree.
“The timing of these offerings will depend largely on the results of the companies’ transformation and market conditions at the time,” he said.
A total of six companies are scheduled to go public over the next three years. According to Dan, this is expected to transform the fund’s portfolio from one consisting predominantly of privately held assets into one made up mainly of publicly traded holdings.
Corporate governance has been strengthened at SQB and Uzbektelecom, with independent directors appointed to their supervisory boards with government support, Dan said. Both companies have recorded growth in revenue and profitability. He added that Uzbektelecom was well positioned to significantly improve its financial performance over the next 12 months.
The IPO of Uzbekistan Airways, previously planned for this year, has been postponed. Dan attributed the delay to challenging conditions in the global aviation market and the need to allow transformation initiatives time to affect the airline’s financial results.
More than 120 such initiatives have been developed for Uzbekistan Airways. “However, we are still at a very early stage. There is a lot of work ahead,” he said.
Dan noted that the airline’s cost structure had limited the impact of rising fuel prices compared with some regional and global competitors. The company also expects to offset part of the additional costs through efficiency improvements.
The fund’s first dividend payments will be based on dividends it receives in 2027 from portfolio companies for their 2026 financial results, Dan said. He declined to specify the expected dividend yield.
According to Dan, investment funds of this type typically face a gap of around 18 months between the end of portfolio companies’ financial years and the receipt of dividends by shareholders.
UzNIF supported SQB’s decision not to pay dividends on ordinary shares for 2025, despite a requirement for the bank to allocate at least 50% of net profit to dividends through 2030.
“In SQB’s case, we agreed to make an exception for the dividends for 2025, which would have been paid in 2026, to allow the bank to continue growing and reinvesting its profits,” Dan said, adding that such decisions were considered on a case-by-case basis.
In general, he believes a payout ratio of 50% strikes the right balance between reinvestment and profit distribution.
Following its IPO, UzNIF shares have traded at a slight premium to net asset value (NAV). Dan said the fund currently had the highest valuation relative to NAV among publicly traded closed-end investment funds worldwide.
The fund now has nearly 10,000 shareholders. Its NAV increased by 6.1% in the first half of the year, which Dan attributed to the performance of portfolio companies in energy, transport, infrastructure, banking, insurance and commodity exchange markets.
An independent valuation of portfolio companies is conducted by one of the Big Four accounting firms, while the fund publishes its NAV monthly.
The fund is paying particular attention to Temiryulinfratuzilma, which owns railway infrastructure. Dan said the asset could become an important regional player as the Middle Corridor develops, but appropriate tariff regulation would be necessary. A new chief financial officer has already been appointed at the company.
In the energy sector, Uzbekistan has continued working since August to establish a more transparent regulatory framework, including steps towards introducing RAB regulation, Dan said.
“The main priority now is to implement these mechanisms consistently,” he said.
The fund is working with the government to improve the position of historically loss-making energy companies, including Regional Electric Networks, National Electric Grids of Uzbekistan, Hududgazta’minot, Uzbekhydroenergo and Thermal Power Plants.
However, Dan stressed that UzNIF does not determine tariff policy. Tariffs are only one factor alongside operational efficiency, loss reduction and access to long-term financing.
More than 250 people attended UzNIF’s investor events in mid-October, 50–60% more than a year earlier. More than 60% of participants were learning about Uzbekistan for the first time.
Dan said the Tashkent events brought together investors managing more than US$2 trillion in assets. More than 160 institutional investors participated in the fund’s IPO.
Commenting on privatisation, Dan described the process over the preceding 18 months as highly transparent. He said requiring buyers of strategic stakes to invest additional capital in developing the acquired assets was standard international practice.
Dan identified growth in net asset value as the main measure of the fund’s success over the next three years. Internal NAV targets have been set for each portfolio company and for the fund as a whole, but he declined to disclose them publicly.
