Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan plans to review central heating tariffs annually in line with inflation, with increases capped at 10%, Deputy Economy and Finance Minister Khurshed Mustafayev said on 14 October.
Mustafayev, who oversees the oil and gas sector, said the proposed approach would allow tariff adjustments to reflect changing economic conditions.
He noted that tying annual indexation rigidly to a specific inflation rate could prove ineffective if economic circumstances changed. As an example, he cited the possibility of inflation rising amid shifts in the geopolitical situation.
Annual inflation in Uzbekistan stood at 6.4% as of 1 October. Mustafayev said that if inflation subsequently exceeded the established benchmark, a strictly fixed indexation rate would need to be reconsidered.
However, he stressed that heating tariff increases would be based on the actual annual inflation rate and could not exceed 10%.
“Whether inflation is 6% or 7%, starting from 1 May 2028, tariffs will increase at that rate,” Mustafayev said, explaining that the cap did not allow heating prices to be raised arbitrarily.
A similar mechanism, providing for annual tariff indexation capped at 10%, has been in effect for household electricity and natural gas tariffs since the beginning of 2026.
Commenting on energy tariff increases introduced on 1 June, Mustafayev said the combined increase for households, legal entities and certain large enterprises did not exceed 10%.
However, he noted that increases for some individual consumer categories could have been higher.
