Gov’t plans to delay Uzbekistan Airways and Uztelecom IPOs until 2027

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov shared the updated timeline during a regional cooperation seminar in Tashkent focused on connectivity, private investment, and open trade. The event took place alongside the country constituency meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

Kuchkarov noted that prior high-level discussions regarding regional connectivity and private sector funding frequently overlooked the operational state of the public enterprises driving those sectors. He emphasized that successfully advancing transport, aviation, and digital infrastructure is fundamentally dependent on executing deep structural reforms within the state-owned entities anchored in these fields.

The government's strategy requires comprehensive corporate modernization across all major regulated infrastructure monopolies. Kuchkarov explained that just as systematic restructuring is underway within the state railway networks, a parallel overhaul must be finalized at the national telecommunications provider and major domestic airlines before they can confidently attract global capital.

According to the revised strategy, the public listings for both Uzbekistan Airways and Uztelecom are now slate for 2027. The broader privatization initiative will expand to include all remaining state-backed connectivity and infrastructure enterprises around 2028–2029.

The adjusted schedule marks a clear departure from a previous strategy reviewed during a meeting with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on June 15. The earlier agenda aimed to accelerate the carrier's privatization timeline significantly, with an explicit goal of floating a 15–20% equity stake in Uzbekistan Airways on international capital markets before the close of 2026.

The delay aligns with a recent regulatory update from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which added Uzbekistan Airways to a registry of 425 socially significant organizations. Under current regulatory mandates, the national airline must transition its accounting practices fully to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by January 1, 2027, and begin publishing audited annual financial reports systematically by the end of 2028.