Government to gradually end heating and hot water subsidies by 2030

Speaking at a press conference held on July 8 at the Agency for Information and Mass Communications (AIMC), Ilhom Turaev confirmed that Uzbekistan will fully abandon heating and hot water subsidies by 2030.

Turaev noted that residents of Tashkent and other regions currently pay discounted rates for heating and hot water. The difference between actual market prices and the subsidized rates is covered by the state budget.

“To develop the sector, we need to move away from subsidies. However, we cannot do this all at once — it would put too much strain on the population. Therefore, we aim to gradually phase them out by 2030,” said the chairman of Issiqlikta'minoti. “To achieve this, tariffs will need to be reviewed once or twice a year. We could raise them in a single step, but the sharp increase in costs would be too burdensome for citizens.”

According to him, raising tariffs once per year may not significantly impact budgetary institutions, but the declining share of subsidies will increase the financial burden on ordinary citizens. “To prevent this, we will review tariffs once or twice a year and gradually reduce the volume of subsidies,” he added.

As a reminder, in December 2024, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov noted that the situation surrounding the heat supply sector is somewhat more complex than that of electricity or gas, due to the “significant gap” between the market value of heating and the current subsidized tariffs.