Government stakes in cement plant, coal miner put up for sale

The Agency for the Management of State Assets has announced that the Uzbek government's holdings in Sherobod Cement Plant, which is entirely state-owned, and Shargunkumir, where the state holds a 99.55 percent stake, are now available for purchase as a combined package.

The agency reported that six investors, both domestic and international, have submitted proposals to acquire these two companies. Alkes Research has been appointed as the privatization consultant for this transaction.

The consultant evaluated the submitted bids against the criteria specified in the tender announcement for this initial stage and confirmed that all applicants fully satisfied the requirements, according to the agency. Each applicant will receive a personalized letter detailing the subsequent steps, along with a process letter outlining the procedure for the next phase of the sale, which involves submitting binding offers.

The deadline for submitting binding offers is 11:59 p.m. on September 10. To be eligible, applicants must make a good-faith deposit equivalent to at least 1 percent of their proposed purchase price via their personal E-Auksion platform account by the specified deadline.

Sherobod Cement Plant, situated in Surkhandarya province, possesses an annual production capacity of up to 1.5 million tons of cement. Its assets include buildings and structures spanning 57,500 square meters, an 84-hectare land plot held under permanent use rights, and a 500.7-hectare area containing underground mineral reserves.

Shargunkumir, also located in Surkhandarya province, stands as one of Uzbekistan's largest coal-mining enterprises, extracting nearly 900,000 tons of coal annually. The company operates its own 12.5-kilometer railway line and a coal-processing facility.