RESOLUTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN.. 2
September 24 declared a day off on the occasion of Kurban Hayit 2
Uzbekistan has completed the electrification of the Angren-Pop railway line. 3
Wellbeing, Stability and Prosperity. 3
Kurash replenished the official program of the 18th Asian Summer Games. 7
RESOLUTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
September 24 declared a day off on the occasion of Kurban Hayit
On September 18, 2015 the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a Resolution “On the celebration of Kurban Hayit”.
Thus, taking into account the appeal of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan on the coincidence of the first day of Kurban Hayit with September 24 (Thursday) this year, September 24 was announced to be a day off and it was charged to widely celebrate the holiday throughout the country.
The Document entrusted the “Nuroniy” and “Mahalla” Republican Funds, other relevant departments and public organizations to carry out the necessary measures to organize the Kurban Hayit at a high level in accordance with the national values of our people.
The National TV and Radio Company of Uzbekistan, the Uzbekistan National News Agency and other media were recommended to broadly cover activities related to the celebration of Kurban Hayit.
(Source: UzReport.uz)
INVESTMENTS
Dehkonobod Potash Fertilizer Plant is planning to implement several interesting projects in the near future
One of them implies the launch of the production of 10,000 tones of potassium hydroxide per year.
The Plant is fairly seen as the industry’s flagship in Kashkadarya region. Over the past five years it has produced more than 900,000 tons of the first class potassium chloride and exported about 600,00o tones. The preparation for the implementation of the new project is currently underway to expand the production capacity and produce the product which is highly demanded by the domestic industry.
Potassium hydroxide is used in the manufacture of various household chemicals and some pharmaceuticals, as well as for disinfecting of wastewater. It will give way to active development of alkaline battery manufacturers being an integral part of them, and provide the fast-growing chemical and rubber industry with necessary feedstock.
The second stage of processing plant was completed last year with the involvement of Chinese partners. That has allowed increasing the production volumes and creating new jobs. The Russian company of ZUMK Engineering has been partnering the construction of a mining complex with the annual production capacity of 1.4 million tons of ore, as well as facilities of external power supply and the cableway, which, having almost 30 kilometers in length, is considered the world’s longest in the distance between the pillars. The implementation of these projects would bring the annual production capacity of potash fertilizers up to 600,000 tones, and ore production – to 2.1 million tons.
“Previously, potash fertilizers were imported from abroad for the foreign currency. The launch of the Plant has met the needs of the domestic market, and allowed exports. Today, we export fertilizers to China, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Armenia, Moldova, Turkey, Angola, Ukraine and several other countries”, said the plant’s chief engineer Rahmat Usarov. “Previously, the mining complex extracted the ore with the assistance of foreign specialists, while since last year this work is completely carried out by the local manpower.”
Another promising project comes to the recycling of production waste and producing technical salt on its basis. It is expected that it will fully meet the needs of domestic enterprises in the future.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
transport
Uzbekistan has completed the electrification of the Angren-Pop railway line
In the near future, residents and guests of Uzbekistan will be offered a decent alternative to air transport and highways on their way to the pearl of Central Asia – the Ferghana Valley. A project on the construction a railway line to link Angren and Pop with a unique tunnel has entered its final stage.
Experts believe that the new steel line will have a positive impact on the further development of the economic capacity of three most populated regions of Uzbekistan, allow increasing the volume of passenger and freight traffic by several times, and significantly reduce travel time along with completion of building a single railway network and opening up interesting opportunities in transit.
Running through the Kamchik pass in the mountains at an altitude of over 2,200 meters above sea level, the unique railway will also serve as an important link of the new international transit railway corridor China – Central Asia – Europe. Chinese companies have already considered the advantage of using the new railway instead of sea or air routes when transporting their goods to Europe.
The railway industry has presented a kind of a gift on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence by completing the construction and electrification of the 104 km Angren-Pop railway line. They have built 285 artificial and water structures, six overpasses, 13 railway bridges with a total length of 2.1 km, four stations, four junctions and two railway depots. To date, the construction and electrification of railway tracks from the Angren station to the west portal, and from the Pop station to the eastern portal has been completed, so the trains are running in the standard operating mode.
The completion of the construction of the tunnel is now a small deal. It ranks eighth in the global rating in the complexity of construction among tunnels in the highlands, and the thirteenth in terms of length.
“The lining of the tunnel has been underway on four construction sites in collaboration with Chinese railway specialists. Drilling works have been already completed on the 14th kilometer of the core tunnel, and on the 15th kilometer of the extra tunnel. Finishing works have been accomplished on the 10th kilometer section,” said an expert of the project on Electrification of the Angren-Pop Railway Line, Tajiddin Ablazov.
Quality and compliance with international standards has been the spotlight of the construction. The whole process has been monitored and controlled by the specialists of the German company of DB International GmbH.
“The project has been implemented on the high professional level. The construction is carried out in difficult conditions of high mountains, which creates certain difficulties. The experience of Uzbek railway workers can be assessed by the example of the works they have accomplished in the shortest possible terms on both sides of the tunnel. I am sure that the tunnel will be laid at an accelerated pace, and will meet all international requirements and standards in security,” said the company’s Chief Adviser Jacob Shoens.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
Society
Wellbeing, Stability and Prosperity
At the dawn of its independence, Uzbekistan has chosen its own way of development, and an integrated and large-scale reformation, which was aimed at building a democratic state with a socially oriented market economy. It has been focused on tackling the problem of food security, ensuring affordable food in accordance with rational norms of a healthy diet, as well as on the achievement of high quality and safety of food consumed by the population. The authorities took certain measures to accelerate economic reforms in agriculture on the basis of the priority development of farms, streamline the production relations in rural areas, build the organizational structure of agricultural production management that would comply with the market principles, strengthen the freedom of agricultural manufacturers and ensure their reliable legal protection.
QUALITY STANDARDS AND PRODUCT RANGE
Over the years of independence, the Uzbekistan’s food industry has shaped its content and structure, and has turned into the high-tech industry. Produced at the up-to-date equipment, the domestic food products are featured by good taste properties and modern packaging. Nearly 10,000 food enterprises supply the domestic and foreign markets with high quality food products.
The development of industry enterprises has been pushed by the Program of Measures on Expansion and Development of Food Industry for 2012-2015, as well as the Program of Additional Measures on Enhanced Processing of Agricultural Products, Increase of Production Volumes, and Expansion of Food Products Range for 2012-2015.
The level of the food industry might be estimated by a wide range of foods presented in the consumer market. The scale of ongoing reforms in the sector can be best tracked in comparison. In 1990, Uzbekistan imported more than 82% of the totally consumed grain, 50% of meat and meat products, about 60% of dairy products, 100% of sugar, milk powder and baby food. Today, Uzbekistan fully meets the population demand in all major types of products through the development of domestic production. Over the years of independence, meat consumption per capita has increased by 1.3 times, milk and dairy products – by 1.6 times, and processed fruit and vegetables by almost 4 times.
There are over 10,000 economic entities specializing in food production in Uzbekistan. Angren Shakar, Siyob Sahovati, Renesans Dizayn, Marmaks, Agromir Groups, Gold Dry Fruits, Greenworld, Afrosiyob Meva, Tashkent Sifat Sut, Master Delikatesov, Tegene Group, Tuhtaniyoz Ota, and others have been the industry’s flagships. World-renowned companies like Nestle, Coca Cola, Carlsberg, British American Tobacco and others have established their affiliates here. In the early 90s of the last century, the products manufactured in Uzbekistan were exported to five foreign countries, while today the country exports goods to over 80 states, including Russia, Brazil, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, South Korea, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and many others. In the last decade alone, exports of fruit juice have doubled, and other products increased by an average of 1.5 times.
Today, each food manufacturer is challenged by the introduction of new quality and production management standards, advanced technologies to bring an enterprise to a new level, improve quality and expand the product range. Besides, it is getting relevant to prepare for a new procedure of certification, retrain the staff for operating the modernized equipment, shape special maintenance teams responsible for the state of equipment, and much more. Nearly 40 domestic enterprises have been certified by international quality management ISO 9001. Some of them operate the international food safety management system ISO 22000.
The government has been taking effective measures to ensure a healthy lifestyle and wellbeing of the population. Foreign experts highly appreciate Uzbekistan’s involvement in the implementation of the Alimentarius Code, which is a set of international food standards, which were adopted by the International Commission of FAO/WHO, as well as in the Health 2020 strategy, which aims at the system-based support of production and ensuring food safety, promotion of healthy lifestyles, observance of social equality and justice.
SIMPLE LOGIC
According to the Food Industry Association, there are 1,312 meat and milk processing enterprises in Uzbekistan. 48 of them are members of the Association. Almost all companies are operated by imported equipment, which has enabled them to run technological cycles in accordance with international requirements ranging from procurement of raw materials to packaging finished products. Expansion of the product range has become an important trend.
Six years ago, Uzbekistan chose a policy of increasing the capacity of the meat and dairy industry in terms of integrated processing of raw materials and manufacture of the whole range of products, including the production of semi-finished foods and products with high degree of processing. The strategy was supported by the resolution of the state’s leader of January 26, 2009 ‘On additional measures to expand the food production and enrich the domestic market. Since then, the industrial processing and production of finished meat and dairy products has been carried out exclusively by legal entities.
The sustainable growth of production and consumption of meat and milk is conditioned both by an increase in population income and supply, also owing to the state support of the livestock sector. The idea of government resolutions of 2006 and 2008 in the field of animal husbandry is simple and clear: the reduction of price for meat and milk requires an increase of the supply. With this purpose, the villagers engaged in cattle breeding at personal subsidiaries and farms, were legally provided with the right of receiving pensions upon reaching the retirement age.
Low-income families have been supported through allocation of free cows by sponsors and entrepreneurs. Commercial banks and Employment Assistance Fund of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection allocate micro-loans to rural entrepreneurs for the development of animal husbandry. Another step implies making highly productive feedstock of cottonseed meal and husk more affordable for the population and farmers, as sold by the Uzbek Commodity Exchange through the local feedstock sales points.
According to official data, animal husbandry in Uzbekistan has been growing by the average of 5-7% year, and, as reported by the State Statistics Committee, the cattle stock has reached 10.99 million heads. The production of livestock foods in 2014 totaled to 15.1 trillion soums, all categories of farms produced 1.9 million tons of live weight meat. Milk production exceeded 8.4 million tons. The major cattle stock, as the statistical analysis shows, is concentrated in farms – 93.9%. According to the Mahalla Republican Foundation, more than four million families have private economies on 495,000 hectares of land, keeping about 8 million head of cattle, including over 4 million of dairy cows (currency rates of CB RU from 21.09.2015 1$= 2610.89 soums).
During the celebration of the 24th anniversary of independence, the Tashkent company of Marmaks has commissioned a new production line with the annual capacity of 1,000 tons of sausages. The investment disbursed amounted to $1.7 million. The domestic market will now be enriched by dairy products of Golden Food Group Co.,Ltd of Syrdarya region, and Oq Suv farm of Andijan region. That’s just the beginning. In the next five years, dairy and meat companies of the Food Industry Association will build four new meat and milk processing manufactures in the capital and regions, with a total cost of $6.5 million. Besides, Master Delikatesov, Ruzimetov Z.M., Ibragimov H.N., of Tashkent, Agro Bravo, Bakht, Siab Shavkat Orzu of Samarkand – the major players in this segment of the market – are going to upgrade and expand their production at $9.2 million of their own funds and commercial banks’ loans. The projects were included in the Program of Measures on Structural Reforms, Modernization and Diversification of Production for 2015-2019.
FOR EVERY TASTE
Fat industry has been leading in the food industry of Uzbekistan. The increase in oil and fat production is inextricably linked with high quality indicators of oilseeds, construction and reconstruction of enterprises, increased demand in the domestic market. The industry comprises 39 enterprises, including small businesses producing cottonseed and sunflower oil, margarine, mayonnaise, laundry and toilet soap and many other goods. In the first half of 2015, they produced more than 64,930 tons of vegetable oil, 11,200 tons of margarine food, 15,160 tons of soap.
Previously, the industry prioritized the production of cotton oil, while now the emphasis has shifted to the increased production of sunflower, soybean, and safflower oil. Acreage of oilseeds has been expanded accordingly.
40,000 hectares of land have been allocated this year for the cultivation of sunflower. The cultivation of soy, safflower and other oilseeds is considered promising in terms of climatic conditions. This year, they occupy 65,000 hectares of land. It is planned to obtain 90,000 tons of feedstock for oil and fat businesses to produce more than 25,000 tons of sunflower, soybean and safflower oils. Feedstock supply contracts have been concluded with 1,395 farms this year. Most of sunflower seeds are processed by Toshkent Yogh-Moy Factory, Kogon Yogh Ekstrakcia, Uchkurgon Yogh, East Oil, OR Golden Oil, and others.
Obtaining oil from nonconventional raw materials like watermelon, melon, grapes, pumpkins, tomatoes, sesame, rapeseed, pitted plums, apricots and peaches is another important aspect as, apart from taste qualities, they are rich in biologically active and pharmacological properties. Development of new kinds of products has been underway under the ongoing program of modernization, technical and technological extension of the industry, based on best international practices and introduction of modern high-performance innovative technologies.
The industry has been stimulated by the attraction of domestic and foreign investors in oil and fat industry, conclusion of contracts for the implementation of innovative ideas, technologies and projects of local scientists and research institutions, as well as the introduction of international quality standards. Specialists of the Food Industry Association have been working closely with researchers of the Tashkent Technical University, Tashkent Institute of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Plant Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences, and other institutions.
International ISO 9001 standards have been introduced in all enterprises of the industry, whose products are distinguished by high quality. Such measures do not just improve the quality of products, but allow increasing the production volumes of premium quality oil, and fully meeting the needs of the population.
Investments in technical extension have been contributing in improvement of the industry’s performance. The list of completed projects includes the development of fat intraesterification facilities at Toshkent Yogh-Moy Factory, a manufacture of distilled glycerol and fatty acids in Urganch Yogh Company and Integral Invest Co.Ltd.
SWEET AND USEFUL FOODS
A range of bakery products has remarkably expanded: today, businesses produce more than 300 kinds of products. The confectionery industry has been showing significant achievements as well. Enterprises of the Association produce more than 15,000 tons of sweets, wafers, candy, jellies, halva and other sweets per year.
The principle of ‘naturalness’ is fundamental for Sharf-Shirin Company. Sweet products contain many vitamins and natural substances, with the multitude of them in nuts. The combination of the latest technologies, high-quality and environmentally friendly raw materials and experience of qualified specialists allows producing high quality products, as evidenced by numerous customer feedback. Spherical shape candies with a soft filling, in crispy wafer shell coated with chocolate, called Avelino, Velero, Estello and Novello rank among the first premium class chocolate wafer sweets in Uzbekistan.
The production of a popular chocolate-nut paste Chocosream is the major product of the Sharf-Shirin company. It also offers a range of La crema wafer rolls with chocolate filling, chocolate icing rolls and colored biscuit rolls, using only natural dyes. Con La Crema cookies with chocolate filling are another innovation of Sharf-Shirin Company.
The Sharf Uniprom Company has released a new Estello branded product while preserving the best traditions of world’s confectionery manufacturers, and expanding the product range. The Vasira Biznes Company started not with ice cream, but with the opening of food store in 2005. Two years later, it launched the manufacture of ice cream with biscuit base in solid package. The consumers have appreciated the products: they became popular and well-sold. Not stopping there, the company invested profits in the development of new kinds of ice cream and procurement of equipment. Now the list of products comprises 48 items. The company concentrated efforts on the broad range, because different kinds of ice cream are popular in different times of the year.
* * *
By the end of next year, the Association is planning to establish the production of 500 tons of food mixes (flavoring ingredients) in Tashkent, starch syrup for the confectionery industry in the Khorezm region. By 2020, the Russian holding company of United Confectioners is planning to open a confectionery manufacture in Tashkent region worth $20 million, with the design capacity of 10,000 tons. New manufactures will be established, the existing companies will be upgraded and their capacity will be expanded in the next five years under over 300 projects worth $410 million within the national program, and over 5,000 projects totaling $500 million will be implemented under regional programs. This suggests additional 100,000 tons of industrial products and dozens thousands of new jobs, mostly in rural areas. The projects will focus on innovative technologies and deep processing of raw materials. Their ultimate goal comes to increasing the product range and competitiveness. By 2020, the volume of imports is expected to fall by 80%, while exports will double.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
Art
The festival of German-speaking amateur theater groups has taken place in Tashkent for the eighth time
Four creative teams set up under the Wiedergeburt German cultural centers in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Ferghana took part in the contest. Before the start of the festival, amateur troupes honed their knowledge of the language in the theater workshops under the guidance of a teacher from Germany Joachim Buerkert.
Staged in Ferghana, the play “Abdullajon” based on the eponymous motion picture that is a story of a gentleman named Sotvoldi, opened the theater forum. The man assures others that a UFO landed in his village.
The theater troupe from Bukhara staged the play “Swineherd”, the plot of which centered on a prince looking for a princess to marry. The Tashkent-based amateur actors presented the play “Widows”, a complicated story of two women. And the Samarkand residents told about the stigmatization of foreigners with their play entitled “Among us”.
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
sport
Kurash replenished the official program of the 18th Asian Summer Games
At the meeting in the Turkmen capital city of Ashgabat, the General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) decided to include Kurash to the official program of the 18th Asian Summer Games.
According to the announced program, 15 sets of medals in Kurash will be played at the Summer Games in Indonesia. Men will contend in 7 weight categories, while women – in 8.
Thus, Kurash is presented in the official sports program of three different Asian Games – Asian Beach Games 2016 in Vietnam, Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2017 in Turkmenistan and the Asian Summer Games 2018 in Indonesia.
It should be noted, that the 18th Summer Asian Games will be held in Jakarta (Indonesia) from August 18 till September 2 in 2018.
Summer Asian Games, held under the assistance of the OCA every four years, are recognized second-largest and important games after the Summer Olympics in the world of sport.
(Source: UzReport.uz)
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