Heat Tariffs in Uzbekistan to Be Raised to Cover Production Costs

Uzbekistan plans to significantly raise hot water and heat supply tariffs from 1 November 2026, and from 1 May 2028 to index them annually to inflation, capped at 10 percent. A draft government resolution on the changes has been put up for public discussion.

Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Khurshid Mustafoyev explained the reasons at a press conference on 15 October. He said Tashkent's heat and hot water tariffs stayed unchanged from 2019 to 2024 while energy, wages and service costs rose. Tariffs were increased by 15 percent in 2024 and twice by 15 percent in 2025, and a 30 percent rise is proposed for 2026. He said the cost of heat services is five times higher than the price charged to households, with the gap covered by the state budget.

A presidential decree adopted on 11 March 2025 foresees gradually bringing reduced household tariffs up to cost level by 2030. Mustafoyev said tariffs alone will not achieve this, and costs must fall by at least 30-40 percent by 2030. Programs to cut costs by at least 15 percent each year and a modernization program to reduce losses following a technical audit are to be developed.