President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited the Ferghana Oil Refinery on May 6.

Back in its time, the enterprise was created to accelerate the development of oil fields in the Ferghana Valley and provide the countries of the region with petroleum products. Today it is one of Uzbekistan’s largest hydrocarbon processing facilities. The complex covers 475 hectares, includes 52 technological objects. More than 70 thousand people work here.

However, due to the obsolescence of technology and the dependence of production on imports over the past ten years, the company has proved to be unprofitable. With an annual capacity of 6 million 450 thousand tons, the capacity of the plant dropped to 30 percent.

At a meeting convened February 21 this year to discuss the development of the oil, gas and chemical industries, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered that the Ferghana Refinery be transferred to investors under trust terms. On April 10, a presidential resolution outlined measures to modernize the oil refinery with the attraction of foreign direct investments. 

The renovation is carried out jointly with the Indonesian company RT Trans Asia Resources in three stages. This company has extensive experience and its place in the global market. The participation of a foreign company will contribute to the stable supply of the plant with crude and its processing in accordance with world standards, as well as the exports of products to external markets. In the future, a consortium of leading international companies is projected to be formed.

This year, the plant is scheduled to attract direct investments in the amount of at least 300 million US dollars. Owing to these funds, work of 7 out of 11 installations now standing idle will be restored within two months. 7.1 thousand workplaces will be saved, 450 people will return to work.

At the same time, the supply of the plant with crude is going to double. Starting from 2020, the mill is scheduled to master the production of high-quality diesel fuel complying with Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards. The cost price will decrease, while the goods quality will increase, which can in turn facilitate growth in the export potential of the Ferghana region.

In general, the project is expected to attract investments worth 875 million dollars through to 2022. That would allow for the modernization of the Ferghana Oil Refinery, which is 60 years old, along with the Altyaryk Oil Refinery Enterprise, established 110 years ago, and produce export-oriented goods in them.

Crucially, many people, especially youth, will be employed. Tax revenues are anticipated to increase by 100 billion soums a month.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke with plant workers and investors.

“The principal objective behind all these efforts is to load the enterprise with full capacity and provide people with job. This will be a new stage in the activities of the Ferghana Oil Refinery,” the head of state suggested.

Additional instructions were given to provide the mill with crudes and boost production volumes.