Enter Engineering and Saneg employees protest over months of unpaid wages

Employees from several sites have reportedly engaged in strikes, withholding their labor to demand overdue payments. Complaints have also emerged from faculty members at Samarkand International Technological University, affiliated with Enter Engineering and Eriell, who report similar payment delays. A foreign professor noted that while local instructors have not been paid for an extended period, international professors last received wages in early September.

This delay in payments has become a recurring issue for Enter Engineering, a company established in 2012 and previously under Gazprombank’s control, focusing on oil, gas, and industrial project development. In April, reports surfaced of collective protests by workers at the Almalyk copper-processing plant over delayed payments, with employees gathering publicly to express discontent. More recently, wage disbursements for employees at the copper plant’s construction site included only partial payment for May and June, with many still awaiting full compensation.

Eriell, another company linked to Enter Engineering, faces similar issues. Employees of Eriell recently told Kun.uz that they had not been paid for three months, with one worker stating he resigned in June due to delays. He received payment for May only after his resignation, while current employees continue to wait for three months of wages.

The companies’ press office acknowledged the delays, stating that payments are being made gradually, though some workers argue that the situation remains largely unresolved. The affiliated companies, both registered abroad and reportedly owned by Uzbek entrepreneur Bakhtiyor Fazilov, provide drilling and exploration services and have expanded into large-scale projects, including a major gas storage facility in Uzbekistan.