Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 26 January this year, a press conference was held at the Agency for Information and Mass Communications with the participation of the management and responsible persons of Uzsuvtaminot on the results of the work done last year and plans for the current year.

First, media representatives were provided with information on the work done last year in the field of drinking water supply and wastewater disposal, on the results and indicators achieved.

As noted, in 2022, 3.3 trillion soums of budgetary funds and US$185.5 million of funds from international financial institutions were disbursed as part of all programs. At the expense of these funds, a total of 7,130.1 km of drinking water supply networks and 232.9 km of sewer networks were laid in the republic, 859 water and sewer facilities were built and reconstructed. For example, last year, at the expense of the Asian Development Bank, a water treatment plant "Kadyria" with a capacity of 100 thousand cubic meters per day was built in the Tashkent region, in the city of Jizzakh - a sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 30 thousand cubic meters per day, at the expense of the World Bank a sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 100 thousand cubic meters per day was built in the city of Bukhara, and a sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 4 thousand cubic meters per day was built in the city of Shirin at the expense of the Islamic Development Bank.

In order to develop drinking water supply and sanitation systems in the regions, significant work has been done at the expense of own funds of territorial water supply enterprises. Thus, 82.8 km of water supply networks were laid, 7 wells were drilled, 121 pumps were installed. Also, at the expense of financing in the amount of 44.9 billion soums, major and current repairs of 1.8 thousand drinking water supply networks and 1.8 thousand pumping units were completed.

During the reporting period, special attention was paid to the introduction of energy-saving technologies at drinking water supply and sanitation facilities. In particular, solar panels with a capacity of 90.5 kW have been installed in the Republic of Karakalpakstan. In order to install a photovoltaic station and solar panels in the Syrdarya region, an agreement was signed in the amount of 220.46 million soums. Tender announcements have also been posted for the installation of solar panels at 4 water facilities in the Samarkand region, at 3 facilities in the Surkhandarya region and 2 facilities in the Jizzakh region.

In addition, due to the replacement of 37 pumps by Sirdaryo suv ta’minoti LLC and 16 pumps by Surkhondaryo suv ta’minoti LLC, 77,000 kW of electricity was saved per month.

As a result of last year’s replacement of 3 pumps with energy-saving ones at the Kizil Ravat water facility in the city of Namangan, savings of 6,570.0 min kW of electricity per year will be achieved.

The event also provided information on the statistics of applications received last year by Uzsuvtaminot JSC and its territorial water supply enterprises. So, in 2022, a total of 28,301 appeals were received, 90 percent of which were considered in the prescribed manner and positively resolved.

In order to promptly consider and resolve the appeals of the population in the system of the joint-stock company, a round-the-clock call center operates at the short number 12-55, through which 144 thousand appeals were received last year. 87 percent of them were resolved positively.

In general, thanks to the work done in 2022, the level of provision of the population of the republic with centralized drinking water supply services increased from 69.7 to 74.4 percent, and the level of coverage with centralized sewerage services - from 17.2 to 18.9 percent. The volume of drinking water sales increased to 1.19 billion cubic meters, and the number of subscribers provided with water meters - from 2.42 million to 2.83 million (64.3 percent). The subscriber base increased from 4.15 million to 4.4 million.

Despite the large-scale work done last year to further increase the provision of drinking water supply and sanitation services to the population, a number of systemic problems remain in the sphere, one of which is the low level of payment discipline of citizens. As a result, the receivables of consumers continue to grow, and today they amount to 1.3 trillion soums, of which 1.1 trillion soums fall to the share of physical consumers, 208 billion soums - to the share of legal entities. To make payments for services, subscribers are provided with a number of amenities, including the ability to make payments through electronic payment systems, mobile applications of commercial banks, as well as through the "Personal Account" and telegram bot "UzWater", launched by the joint-stock company "Uzsuvtaminot". Moreover, in order to improve the payment discipline of citizens and form a culture of rational water use among them, a number of social videos have been prepared, which are currently being broadcast on monitors in the Tashkent metro and buses.

The responsible persons told the audience about the main tasks that are planned to be implemented in 2023. In particular, the number of subscribers in the subscriber base will be increased from 4.4 million to 4.6 million. The number of subscribers provided with water meters will be increased from 2.83 million to 3.2 million.

The structural enterprises of Uzsuvtaminot JSC provide for the creation of 628 new jobs.

At the expense of international financial institutions in the amount of $265.8 million, in 2023 it is planned to build more than 400 km of drinking water supply networks and 120 km of sewer networks, a water treatment plant and 18 water distribution facilities, 2 sewage treatment facilities, 15 sewage pumping stations. In particular, this year 2 sewage treatment facilities with a total capacity of 37,000 cubic meters per day will be put into operation in Gulistan and Yangiyer.

In general, according to the results of the current year, within the framework of all programs, it is planned for the first time to provide clean drinking water to 1.1 million people, to bring the level of provision of the population of the republic with centralized drinking water supply services to 77 percent, and to increase the coverage of sewerage services to 19.5 percent.