As Spot previously wrote, by 2026 Uzbekistan plans to implement 154 public-private partnership projects worth $14 billion.

Director of the PPP Development Agency under the Ministry of Finance Zakir Bazarov shared some details on the projects. Thus, one of the key areas in the field of PPP will be the development of transport infrastructure.

In this area, it is planned to implement 5 major investment projects - documents are currently being worked out on them. They include:

ꞏ  the Tashkent-Andijan toll road project, with the support of the World Bank; ꞏ  the Tashkent-Samarkand toll road project, with the support of the EBRD; ꞏ  the project of the Samarkand-Shakhrisabz toll road with a length of 66 km, as well as a tunnel at the Takhtakoracha pass for 4.4 km; ꞏ  projects for the modernization of airports in Tashkent and regions with their transfer to the management of private partners, with the support of the WB group; ꞏ  projects of modernization and transfer to a private partner of the airports of Bukhara and Urgench.

The expansion of PPP is planned in other areas, Bazarov said. Thus, 11 projects are planned in the energy sector - first of all, the construction of new power plants. New projects have also been prepared in the areas of healthcare, housing and communal services, water management, etc.

Plans to create toll highways in Uzbekistan first became known in July 2018. Then the construction of the first such roads was planned to be entrusted to the German GP Günter Papenburg.

In December of the same year, the Cabinet of Ministers issued a resolution, where 2020 was designated as the start of practical work on the introduction of toll roads. It was noted that they should have a free alternative.

Before the start of work, it was supposed to adopt a law on toll roads. The corresponding draft was prepared in February 2019, and in March it was published for discussion - however, the law has not yet been adopted.

At the same time, in April 2019, the president decided to start building a toll highway from Tashkent to Samarkand with the participation of a Turkish consortium. The EBRD proposed in June to expedite the start of work, but it was delayed due to the high cost of travel.

At the same time, it was decided to build a toll road Tashkent - Andijan with the selection of a contractor through a tender. As it became known in 2020, it will pass through an alternative tunnel in Kamchik.

In the spring of 2021, the PPP Development Agency announced that travel on toll highways from Tashkent to Samarkand and Andijan for passenger cars would cost $5-6. The maximum speed will be 120-150 km/h.