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President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has announced the creation of an Investors’ Council for the fuel and energy sector, to be chaired by Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the Presidential Administration. The announcement came during an open dialogue with international energy investors, according to the presidential press service, and positions the council as a direct mechanism for cutting through the administrative delays that have hampered energy infrastructure development.
Mirziyoyev acknowledged that energy projects demand substantial capital and complex infrastructure, and that delays in land allocation, electricity grid connections and the issuance of technical specifications have repeatedly hindered implementation. The new council is intended to provide prompt solutions to problems investors encounter at every stage, from initial land acquisition through to the commissioning of completed facilities.
Investors push for structured dialogue
The council’s creation came directly in response to requests from major international firms operating in the sector. Companies including Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power, Vision Invest, DataVolt, Voltalia and France’s EDF collectively proposed establishing a formal, continuous dialogue mechanism to resolve implementation obstacles. Mirziyoyev’s announcement of the council was framed as a direct answer to that proposal.
The appointment of Saida Mirziyoyeva — who heads the Presidential Administration — to lead the body signals that the government intends to give the council significant political weight. By placing it under the Presidential Administration rather than a sector ministry, the structure is designed to cut across departmental boundaries that have contributed to the delays investors described.
Workforce development tied to investor participation
The meeting also addressed a parallel challenge: the shortage of qualified personnel for an expanding energy sector. Acwa is already equipping technical schools in Karakalpakstan, Bukhara and Syrdarya regions and training hundreds of young people annually in emerging energy-related fields. Mirziyoyev called on other investors present to follow suit and expressed readiness to involve them in managing regional technical schools.
On the state side, the government announced that admission quotas for energy-related programmes at domestic higher education institutions will increase from the next academic year. In addition, 50 state grants will be provided annually for young people to study at leading universities abroad, though the selection criteria and application process for those grants were not detailed in the presidential press service’s account of the meeting.
Liquefied gas supply to move to private sector by 2027
In a separate announcement at the same meeting, Mirziyoyev said the government plans to transfer liquefied gas supply across the country to the private sector by 2027. Approximately 3.8 million households currently rely on liquefied gas. A pilot project involving private entrepreneurs has already been launched in the Andijan region, providing an initial test of the model before a nationwide rollout.
The privatisation of liquefied gas distribution would represent a significant structural change in a supply chain that has historically been state-controlled. The 2027 target and the Andijan pilot suggest the transition is already under way, though the regulatory framework governing private operators in this market was not outlined in the available account of the meeting.