It is planned to establish an energy market regulator in the country, which will control the electricity and natural gas market, perform licensing and other relevant functions. The NGO will be accountable to the President and the Oliy Majlis only.
The draft presidential decree “On additional measures to reform the energy sector” has been posted on the portal for discussing draft normative-legal acts.
The document stipulates that by the IV quarter of 2021, the Energy Market Regulator of Uzbekistan will be established as a non-governmental organization accountable to the President and the Oliy Majlis, which will regulate, license and control the competitive market of electricity and natural gas.
The draft resolution states that the regulator’s main tasks are:
• reducing the state share in the energy sector, creating favorable conditions to attract private investment and preventing an unreasonable increase in prices for electricity supply to end consumers through the attraction of the best proposals and the latest technologies;
• organizing the formation of a competitive market in the energy sector, developing and approving market rules that ensure equal rights and transparency for all participants, as well as establishing constant control over the observance of these rules by all market participants;
• introducing norms on social protection of low-income and vulnerable segments of the population in the formation of electricity tariffs;
• introducing a mechanism to stimulate power plants, the main equipment of which is the technology of local manufacturers;
• liberalizing natural and liquefied gas trade and improving service quality in accordance with an international business practice;
• establishing economically reasonable tariffs for liquefied gas transportation and distribution services within the country.
It is noted that the decisions taken by the regulator within its competence are binding on the state and economic authorities, local bodies, businesses and citizens.
