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Uzbekistan advances road infrastructure with PPP projects, including high-speed toll roads and tunnels, to boost connectivity and trade. Key routes: Samarkand-Bukhara, Tashkent-Samarkand, Tashkent-Andijan.
Uzbekistan is going to improve existing road infrastructure, with inviting private sector firms to enter into long term contractual agreements which require the private firm to attract finance and execute projects.
The Uzbek government has started development of projects on construction of the first toll roads in the country within public-private partnership programme. Implementation of new road projects will improve the region's transport infrastructure and contribute to reducing the cost of trade across regions
Samarkand - Bukhara
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Turkish company "IC İçtaş İnşaat" and the Committee on Highways for the construction of a new high-speed toll road from Samarkand to Bukhara, which will pass through Samarkand, Bukhara, and Navoi regions.
The deal was inked after the meeting in Tashkent between Reha Denemech, a member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish company "IC İçtaş İnşaat," and Jamshid Kuchkarov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The sides highlighted a mutually beneficial cooperation between Uzbekistan and Türkiye which is “dynamically developing through public-private partnership to implement new projects”, according to Ministry’s press-release.
According to the PPP development program, approved Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in last August, a toll road between Samarkand and Bukhara is planned for one billion USD. The project is expected to commence in 2027, with completion in 2030.
Tashkent-Samarkand
The road connects the first and third populated cities of Uzbekistan. The project is aimed at construction a 305-kilometer Tashkent-Samarkand toll road with six lanes. The preliminary cost of the project is estimated at $2.2 billion.
It is planned to complete the construction in 2028 and hand over its management to a private operator based on PPP. The project includes building of new bridges and interchange overpasses as well as to implement an intelligent transportation system to improve traffic management.
Tashkent-Andijan
The new route supported by the World Bank is expected to halve a travel time which is taking now five and a half hours.
The total length of the first-category road will be 314 km, with six lanes of traffic. The project will be executed in three stages: Tashkent to Angren (78 km), Angren to Pop (93 km), and Pop to Andijan (143 km). The road will feature 10 tunnels with a total length of 33 km, the longest of which will stretch 6.8 km.
Construction of Tashkent-Andijan toll road is going to be launched in 2026, with estimated cost at $4.65 billion.
Takhtakaracha tunnel
A toll tunnel is planned to be built through Takhtakaracha mountain pass that is on the way from Samarkand to Shahrisabz. Construction of the tunnel with length of 4.4 kilometers is estimated at $100 million.
Negotiations with potential strategic companies should be conducted by the end of the year. A private partner is expected to be selected by February 2026, and the PPP agreement signed by the end of 2026.
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