The state has once again become the sole owner of the Fergana Oil Refinery. This change was reflected in the state business registry.
The State Assets Management Agency (SAMA) is now listed as the single owner of the Farg‘ona Neftni Qayta Ishlash Zavodi LLC.
Just a month ago, the registry showed shared ownership of the refinery, with SAMA holding a 58.5% stake and the private energy firm Sanoat Energetika Guruhi (Saneg) owning the remaining 41.5%.
Back in May 2022, SAMA had announced the sale of a 100% stake in the Fergana Oil Refinery to Saneg for $100 million. Prior to that transaction, the facility belonged to the state-owned enterprise Uzbekneftegaz.
By August 2024, the state still retained its 58.5% share through SAMA, while Saneg’s portion stood at 41.5%.
At the time, SAMA had said that the investor had not yet paid for the plant in full. The agency noted that equity would be transferred to Saneg in installments, proportional to the payments received, with full ownership transferring only after complete payment and the fulfillment of all contractual obligations. The exact timeline for the final payments was not disclosed.
Saneg previously reported that it was systematically meeting its payment obligations for the purchase. "The timeline for payments and the execution of investment commitments are governed by the terms of the agreement concluded between Saneg and the State Assets Management Agency of Uzbekistan," the company stated. They also emphasized that all payments and development obligations would be completed on schedule as part of a long-term investment plan for the refinery.
In August 2024, the American corporation Air Products and Saneg had announced a $140 million deal involving the refinery's assets.
Air Products, one of the world's leading hydrogen suppliers, was set to acquire the refinery's hydrogen production assets from Saneg. Saneg clarified that this specific deal involved a hydrogen production unit and a pressure swing adsorption unit. That transaction was expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024.
To spearhead the financial stabilization of the group, a working group was formed under the leadership of Shukhrat Vafaev, Executive Director of the Uzbekistan Fund for Reconstruction and Development. The panel was tasked with preparing non-core assets for liquidation, with the proceeds explicitly earmarked to settle outstanding debts, prioritizing overdue wages.
The liquidation roster featured several prominent properties, including the Altyaryk Oil Refinery in the Fergana province, the Angren storage terminal, eight hotels within the Silk Road Samarkand tourist complex, Samarkand International Airport, the corporate headquarters of Enter Engineering and Eriell Group, and the Tashkent International Medical Center complex.
Furthermore, the working group was directed to draft proposals to attract new investors capable of financing and completing a series of strategic projects. Chief among these initiatives was the modernization of the Fergana Oil Refinery.
The Fergana Oil Refinery has been undergoing a comprehensive overhaul to scale up its production capacity. Key milestones of the upgrade included deploying hydrocracking technology, pushing the fuel processing depth beyond 92%, and launching the production of Euro-5 diesel and aviation kerosene.
Another cornerstone of the modernization roadmap was assisting the government of Uzbekistan in diversifying its energy mix through the industrialization of hydrogen production.
According to investment program metrics from the second quarter of 2024, the projected cost of the refinery's overhaul surged to $389.3 million, with an outstanding balance of $171.8 million as of January 1. Switzerland-based Gas Project Development Central Asia and Cyprus-registered Belvor Holdings Limited were listed as the foreign partners on the project.
These entities have previously been linked to Saneg’s owner, Bakhtiyor Fazylov.
Since 2022, the Fergana Oil Refinery had accumulated 557.3 billion soums in net profit, posting 19.3 billion soums in 2022, 469.6 billion soums in 2023, and 236.1 billion soums in 2024. However, the refinery closed 2025 with record-breaking losses of 538.1 billion soums, triggered primarily by the strengthening of the Uzbek soum.
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