On July 24, the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), and Uzbekneftegaz signed a production sharing agreement (PSA).
The document provides for geological exploration and further production of hydrocarbons in investment blocks of the Ustyurt oil and gas region.
Within the framework of the PSA, 3D seismic exploration is planned to be carried out on an area of at least 1,000 square kilometers. If a commercial deposit is discovered, the parties will proceed to its development and production.
“The partnership with SOCAR reflects New Uzbekistan’s strategic desire to diversify its sources of investment and introduce best international practices. The Ustyurt region has high potential, and the signing of the PSA opens up new horizons for its effective development. We are confident that this project will be an important driver of technological progress and economic growth,” said Minister of Energy Dzhurabek Mirzamahmudov.
“The signing of this agreement is evidence of our long-term strategy for the development of the energy sector in Central Asia and the Caspian region. SOCAR is enthusiastic about implementing the project, applying its accumulated experience and advanced technological solutions,” said SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf.
Uzbekneftegaz Chairman Bakhodir Sidikov said the agreement would strengthen the company’s position as a “reliable and innovation-oriented partner open to international cooperation and large-scale investments.”
In May 2018, Uzbekneftegaz SOCAR and BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) signed a memorandum proposing that the companies consider joint geological exploration of the Aralmore, Samsko-Kosbulak, and Baiterek investment blocks in the Ustyurt district.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Mykola Doroshenko from the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Uzbekistan by decree No. 506/2025.
At the moment the decree on appointment of a new ambassador to this post has not been published. Thus, the diplomatic mission of Ukraine in Tashkent temporarily remains without a head.
Diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Uzbekistan were established in 1992.
The Uzbek Industrial Metals Plant has made the first export delivery of rhenium metal with a purity of 99.9%.
The contract was concluded with the Estonian company VLCor Baltic OU, a supplier of raw materials for the foundry, aerospace and machine-building industries. This is the first time Uzbekistan has exported this strategic metal.
Rhenium is one of the rarest and most expensive elements of the periodic table. It is used in the production of heat-resistant superalloys, in particular for jet engine turbines, as well as in the petrochemical and electronics industries. The main consumers of rhenium in the world are the United States, Europe and China.
The global rhenium market is about 50-60 tons per year, with prices ranging from $2000 to $4000 per kilogram, depending on the purity level and form of delivery. The largest producers are Chile, the United States, Kazakhstan, and China.
The emergence of Uzbekistan among the suppliers may to some extent change the situation in the niche market, which is characterized by high dependence on a limited number of sources and unstable pricing.
According to UzCTM, the technology for producing rhenium by hydrogen reduction of ammonium perenate was mastered in 2021. In 2025, the company plans to produce 3 tons of rhenium metal.
UzKTM’s total exports in the first half of the year amounted to $21.3 million, up 118% year-on-year.
By the end of the year, the plant also plans to produce 842 tons of molybdenum, 96 tons of tungsten, 5 tons of selenium and 1 ton of tellurium. Exports are expected to account for more than $50 million of the planned $70 million in revenue.
Earlier, First Deputy Minister of Mining and Geology of Uzbekistan Omonullo Nasriddinhodzhayev said that in 2024-2028, UzKTM would implement more than 70 projects in the field of critical minerals. The total cost of the program is estimated at $1.6 billion.
Uzbekistan has deposits of more than 30 strategic metals, including lithium, molybdenum, tungsten, germanium, vanadium, graphite, and titanium. The country’s government expects that the development of deep processing in this area will help ensure sustainable export positions in the markets of rare and rare earth elements.
As a reminder, in April 2024, Uzbekistan and the EU signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of sustainable value chains in the field of critical raw materials. This is expected to help Uzbekistan develop its mining industry, and for the EU, guarantee access to minerals such as copper and molybdenum.
In September 2024, Uzbekistan also signed a memorandum on critical minerals with the United States.
You can learn more about the prospects for rare earth mining in Ukraine in the video: https://www.Youtube.Com/watch?V=uhebfpywpqc&t
UzTemiRContainer, part of Uzbekistan Temir Yulary, held talks with a number of Asian logistics operators on the development of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan multimodal corridor on the sidelines of the Investment and Trade Fair in Lanzhou, China.
The meeting was held in a quadrilateral format with the participation of Gansu International Logistics Group, the Afghan diplomatic mission in China, and Xinjiang Union of International Railway Logistics.
The key topics were the launch of return container shipments from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to China, increasing the route’s capacity, and developing logistics infrastructure in Central Asia, including the construction of terminals in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
On the sidelines of the forum, a separate bilateral meeting between representatives of Uztemiryulcontainer and Gansu International Logistics Group took place, during which the parties visited the facilities of the international dry port in Lanzhou.
They inspected container and bulk terminals, car handling areas, and a refrigeration complex for working with refrigerated containers. The delegation from Uzbekistan also familiarized itself with Gansu’s digital solutions in the field of logistics management.
Following the talks, the companies announced the launch of a pilot container route between China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan/Turkmenistan. The first train is scheduled to depart in the third quarter of 2025.
The parties confirmed their intentions to expand cooperation in the field of multimodal transport and expressed their readiness to increase the volume of container transport in the Eurasian direction by at least 1.5 times by 2030.
Foreign Ministers of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan Bakhtiyor Saidov, Amir Khan Muttaki and Ishaq Dar signed a trilateral framework agreement on the development of a feasibility study for the Trans-Afghanistan Railway project during a meeting in Kabul on Thursday.
“We have signed a trilateral framework agreement on the development of a feasibility study for the Trans-Afghanistan-Pakistan Railway project, which is of strategic importance for the whole of Eurasia,” the Uzbek Foreign Minister said in his telegram channel.
He noted that this transportation corridor will improve trade, support Afghanistan’s economic recovery, and open new routes to world markets through southern ports.
According to Saidov, during the meeting, the Uzbek side reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening trade ties, expanding cooperation in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, textiles and construction, as well as increasing the capacity of the Termez International Trade Center (opened in Uzbekistan near the Afghan border).
As reported, in February 2021, representatives of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan signed a joint action plan for the construction of the Mazar-e-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway with a length of 573 kilometers and a transit potential of up to 20 million tons of cargo per year following talks in Tashkent.
The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) have expressed interest in financing the project.
In April 2024, during Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to Moscow, a preliminary agreement was reached on Russia’s participation in the project. The volume of Russian cargo transportation along the projected route can be estimated at 8-15 million tons annually.
According to the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan, the construction of the Trans-Afghan railway line will take at least 5 years, with a preliminary cost of $4.8 billion.
AFGHANISTAN, CONSTRUCTION, PAKISTAN, Trans-Afghan railroad, UZBEKISTAN
On July 1 this year, the President of Uzbekistan watched a presentation of plans in the field of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and telecommunications.
The number of residents of the IT park of Uzbekistan has exceeded 2800, and the number of foreign companies has reached 752. About 40 thousand young people earn high incomes in this area.
Over the past 5 years, the industry’s exports have grown from $170 million to almost $1 billion.
In 2024, startups attracted $70 million in venture capital investment.
As a result, Uzbekistan has risen 12 positions and entered the top 100 of the global ranking of startup ecosystems. The country also moved up 17 positions in the international AI readiness index, ranking first in Central Asia.
Uzbekistan topped the ranking of CIS countries in terms of the growth rate of the telecommunications industry.
Work in this area is ongoing. In particular, the following goals are set for the next year:
As part of the implementation of these goals, a number of draft regulatory documents have been developed and discussed during the presentation.
To date, 760 types of public services have been digitized. Last year, 10 million citizens used digital services.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that it is time to move on to the next stage – building a Digital Government. First of all, digitalization should cover the most popular areas: education, healthcare, construction, and utilities.
Special attention was paid to the development of artificial intelligence technologies. According to the Presidential Decree of October 14, 2024, the AI development strategy until 2030 was approved. USD 50 million has been allocated for the development of infrastructure in this area.
The goal is to create a national model of artificial intelligence and train 1 million specialists.
The Minister of Digital Technologies reported on the current stages of this task and measures to improve the infrastructure.
Expanding the scope of digital services and export potential remains a priority. So far, the main indicators are concentrated in Tashkent, but thanks to the conditions and benefits created in the country, interest from foreign specialists and companies is growing.
In this context, the President emphasized the importance of creating an attractive environment in each region in order to more actively attract foreign IT companies and stimulate the development of the digital economy throughout the country.
