Speech from the UN podium, a parking lot instead of a green area, and unstable propane - weekly digest

Speech from the UN podium, a parking lot in place of a green zone, and unstable propane — weekly digest

Saida Mirziyoyeva delivered a speech from the UN podium

One of the most important political events of the week took place in New York: this year, Saida Mirziyoyeva, Head of the Presidential Administration, spoke on behalf of Uzbekistan during the general political debates within the framework of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

The main news in the speech, delivered in the Uzbek language, was that Uzbekistan has submitted its candidacy for non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council for 2035–2036. Saida Mirziyoyeva also reminded that our country will chair the Non-Aligned Movement starting next year, and expressed the intention to turn this movement into a platform for dialogue at a time of heightened tension.

The issue of the UN's effectiveness was particularly emphasized in the speech. "We need a UN capable of implementing decisions," said the Head of the Presidential Administration.

In addition, views were expressed from the high podium that Afghanistan should not be viewed solely as a source of threat, and that the Aral tragedy is not a natural disaster, but the result of many years of wrong policies.

On September 23, Saida Mirziyoyeva met with Google Vice President Karan Bhatia and discussed the issue of launching YouTube monetization in Uzbekistan. As a reminder, YouTube has not paid income to Uzbek content creators since May 2021; in Central Asia, this option is currently available only in Kazakhstan; last December, US Ambassador Jonathan Henig said that this was prevented by the requirement to localize personal data and restrictions in payment systems. At the meeting, Saida Mirziyoyeva emphasized that legislation in precisely these areas — personal data and digital payments — was recently improved; according to calculations by the Center for Economic Research and Reforms, if monetization is opened, more than 20,000 Uzbek video bloggers could receive an additional income of 30–50 million dollars per year.

By the instruction of the Committee for the Development of Competition and Consumer Protection dated September 17, the restriction placed on the sale price of liquefied gas in exchange trading was lifted. As a result, in the trading on September 17–18, the wholesale price of a ton of propane rose from 7 million 412 thousand soums to 12 million 217 thousand soums, i.e., by 64.8 percent. The price jumped by 60.6 percent on the very first day.

The requirement that the initial offer of manufacturers and importers should not exceed 7.5 million soums per ton remained, but now the price can rise without upper limits during the trading process. Notably, after the restriction was removed, the volume of gas sold on the exchange also increased from 666 tons to 1114 tons — by 67 percent. This may indicate that under strictly limited price conditions, some of the sellers refrained from putting gas on the exchange. In other words, the shortage problem is being solved at the expense of the price.

It is not yet fully clear how the jump on the exchange will affect the retail price. According to calculations by the Autostrada.uz publication, while a liter of propane was sold at gas stations for up to 8,800 soums in August, against the background of rising wholesale prices, the retail price may not be lower than 11,400 soums. This will affect not only owners of cars running on propane, but also households that use bottled gas for cooking and heating in areas where natural gas has not reached ahead of winter.

As a reminder, restrictions on the price of propane on the exchange were introduced in November 2024, after the price of a ton of product exceeded 10.1 million soums. From January 12 of this year, the permitted growth was reduced from 20 percent to 10 percent.

When it comes to power outages, residential households are usually meant. This week, Kun.uz highlighted the problem of entrepreneurs in the Sergeli district: they have been without electricity for almost two months in their shops rented in a new building under the elevated metro.

According to the entrepreneurs, the shops are dark, trade has almost stopped, but they still have to pay rent. "Currently, because there is no 'light', I am sitting and wondering where to get this money," says one of the entrepreneurs who pays $500 a month in rent. They were previously promised that the problem would be solved in a week, but more than a month has passed.

"Regional Electrical Networks" JSC explains the situation by the fact that the construction organization did not complete the work. According to the enterprise, the temporary electricity supply provided to the building was intended only for construction work, and creating the appropriate electrical infrastructure before commissioning the facility is the builder's obligation. As a result, until the issue between the electrical networks and the contractor is resolved, the tenant entrepreneurs remain in this situation.

Interestingly, the idea of giving the spaces under the elevated metro to business is currently being widely promoted: at the beginning of July, at a meeting dedicated to the development of the capital, it was said that about 400 new business facilities could be established under the metro lines, including 137 facilities on the 8.5-kilometer section in Sergeli, creating 1–1.5 thousand jobs. But a shop without "light" provides neither jobs nor taxes.

At the end of the week, the energy system faced another test. On the morning of September 25, a new 1600 MW thermal power plant belonging to the EDF company, where commissioning and adjustment work is currently being carried out, had an emergency shutdown in the Syrdarya region. As a result, interruptions in the electricity supply of agricultural water pumps and households were observed in some regions of the republic. Later, consumers were gradually reconnected, and the officials apologized.

The fate of another green zone in the center of the capital worried the public. By the decision of the Tashkent city khokim Shavkat Umurzakov dated September 14, the 1.3-hectare green area behind the National Library — between the Hyatt Regency hotel, Mustaqillik Square, and the Ministry of Finance building — is being put up for auction to establish a paid parking lot. The starting price is 514.2 million soums: the winner will use the area for 10 years and must invest at least 10 billion soums.

The authors of the project promise that existing trees will be preserved, more than 1000 new trees and shrubs will be planted, and pedestrian and bicycle paths will be built. According to officials, the goal is not to increase the number of cars in the center, but to regulate the existing flow.

However, this argument did not convince many. Qobil Khidirov, author of the Davletov.uz Telegram channel, called the project "nothing more than an eye-opener," while journalist Muhrim Azamkhojayev described this decision as "questionable." According to another expert, although spaces for cars will increase, the load in the center is unlikely to decrease.

Most notably, government agencies themselves objected to the project. The National Committee for Ecology and Climate Change announced that there is no environmental expertise conclusion on the project, and no work affecting trees and green areas can be performed without expertise. According to the committee, new seedlings cannot fully replace the ecological and climatic significance of old trees. The National Committee on Urbanization also considers it inappropriate to reduce green areas in the city center.

It is also noteworthy that this debate coincided with the days when the "Yashil Makon" (Green Space) project was discussed in the presence of the president. At the presentation on September 21, the "3-30-300" principle was put forward: every person should be able to see at least three trees from their home or workplace, 30 percent of the residential area should be under the shade of trees, and there should be a green recreation area at a distance of 300 meters from the house.

As a reminder, in August, the capital's khokim admitted that business centers had been built on many lands previously allocated for parking lots, and promised that such mistakes would not be repeated. Now, the parking problem is to be solved at the expense of the green area in the city center.

In Uzbekistan, significantly more boys are being born than girls. According to an analysis conducted by Kun.uz based on open data, 12 million 487 thousand babies were born in the country in 2010–2025, of which 6 million 482 thousand were boys and 6 million 4 thousand were girls. That is, in 16 years, 478 thousand more boys were born: on average, there are 108 boys for every 100 baby girls. The year with the largest discrepancy was 2018 (10.4 percent more boys were born), and the smallest was 2025 (7 percent).

By region, the difference is highest in Qashqadarya (8.98 percent), Namangan (8.64 percent), and Jizzakh (8.33 percent), and lowest in Karakalpakstan (6.76 percent). Among cities, Ohangaron (16.4 percent) and Bekabad (12.1 percent) stand out.

It should be noted that the natural ratio at birth is usually around 104–106 boys for every 100 girls. The fact that the indicator in Uzbekistan has remained above this limit for many years requires an official explanation and deeper research: in international practice, such a deviation is often studied in connection with cases of selective birth by pre-determining the sex of the fetus.

On top of that, the number of births itself is also decreasing. According to the National Statistics Committee, 879.6 thousand babies were born in 2025 — 46.8 thousand fewer than in 2024. In the first half of this year, 373.4 thousand babies were born, which is 32.1 thousand (7.9 percent) fewer than in the same period last year. According to the forecast of the "Family and Gender" Scientific Research Institute, this number may be around 800 thousand by the end of the year.

Demographic changes were also cited as the main argument in the pension reform draft put up for discussion last week: currently, there are only two working people for every pensioner, and by 2040, the share of pensioners is expected to reach 15 percent of the population from 11 percent. The decline in the birth rate may further worsen this ratio in the future.

In the military sphere, there were a number of personnel changes this week. On September 22, by presidential decrees, two new Deputy Ministers of Defense were appointed. The position of Deputy Minister for Armaments and Military-Technical Supply, which had been vacant until now, was taken by Colonel Qahramon Zoidov, who had been serving as the head of the Land Forces Institute of the University of Military Security and Defense.

Justice Colonel Jahongir Muratov, who previously worked as the first deputy military prosecutor, was appointed to the newly introduced position of Deputy Minister for Anti-Corruption Compliance and Internal Control in the ministry.

On the same day, Akmal Jumanazarov, who had been heading the Technical Regulation Agency until now, was appointed as the new chairman of the Defense Industry Committee under the Cabinet of Ministers. The simultaneous appointment of separate deputies for armaments supply and anti-corruption control is also noteworthy.

As a reminder, at the end of August, the Ministry of Defense demonstrated J-10CE fighter jets received from China for the first time.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev continued his visits to the regions. Having been in Karakalpakstan at the end of last week, the head of state visited the Andijan region on September 23–24. In Andijan, 206 projects with a total value of 9.4 billion dollars were launched: 98 of them (2.05 billion dollars) were put into operation, and the construction of 108 (7.35 billion dollars) began.

Of the 7.6 billion dollars announced in Karakalpakstan, 592 million dollars go to ready facilities, and the remaining part to projects just starting with foreign partners, including a 1.5-gigawatt wind power plant to be built by Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power company.

In other words, the main part of the funds announced at such events belongs to projects whose construction is only just beginning — and we will see their real effect years later.