The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited the Navoiazot on August 27, where he attended the ceremony of launching nitric acid, ammonia and urea production units, the presidential press service said.

The chemical industry is becoming one of the main drivers of our economy. Previously, the industry produced mainly mineral fertilizers for agriculture, with their share of such products at about 80 percent. Today, due to the production of polymers, the share of mineral fertilizers has decreased by 10 percent, and the volume of products for other purposes has increased 6 times.

Over the past five years, the volume of production at the companies part of Uzkimyosanoat has quadrupled, while the export of chemical products has reached USUS$ 250 million.

The role of Navoiazot is great in this. It accounts for almost half of the production of chemical products; about 9 thousand engineers, technologists and workers work here.

The commissioned nitric acid, ammonia and urea production units will give an additional impetus to the development of the industry. The implementation of US$ 1.5 billion worth of projects will nearly triple the production volume at Navoiazot - from US$ 150 million to US$ 410 million per year.

These modern complexes, equipped with advanced technologies brought to Uzbekistan for the first time, will, among other things, completely replace the old facilities of the 60-year-old enterprise.

In particular, the first plant will produce 660 thousand tons of ammonia and 578 thousand tons of urea per year. At the same time, energy consumption for the production of one ton of ammonia will be reduced by 2.5 times.

The second plant will produce 500 thousand tons of nitric acid per year and will reduce electricity consumption by 18 times.

These two projects alone will reduce the cost of nitrogen fertilizers by 30 percent.

- Behind these figures is the hard and at the same time honorable work of thousands of hardworking, selfless employees of the enterprise, highly skilled specialists, - said Shavkat Mirziyoyev and thanked the all the staff.

By pressing a symbolic button, the head of state launched the production of nitric acid, ammonia and urea at the enterprises.

On December 28, 2019, a complex for the production of polyvinyl chloride, caustic soda and methanol was launched here.

Construction of the second stage of the polyvinyl chloride plant began today. The US$ 400 million project will increase the production capacity of polyvinyl chloride from 100 thousand to 220 thousand tons per year, caustic soda - from 75 thousand to 165 thousand tons. Thus, the production of products in demand worth of US$ 210 million annually will be established in the electrical, furniture, construction industries, household chemicals and other industries. Its commissioning is scheduled for 2023.

It is also important that on the basis of this enterprise it is planned to create a large integrated chemical-technological cluster at Navoiazot and the Electrochemical Plant.

The head of our state highlighted the potential and prospects of this association.

- In this cluster, 23 projects worth US$ 3.4 billion will be implemented in the coming years. The cluster will produce 33 types of high value-added products. In particular, by the end of the year, the cluster will launch two projects for the production of products for the chemical, leather, furniture and construction materials industries. The most important thing is that more than 3 thousand new jobs will be created on this basis at Navoiazot, the President said.

Economic projects in our country are based on the principles of rational placement and complementarity. So, by 2030, it is planned to build solar and wind power plants with a total capacity of 8 thousand megawatts, which will save 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. This gas will be used to manufacture products with high added value.

- Before, we sold mainly cotton and gas. Now we are not exporting, but are processing ourselves. We are even purchasing raw cotton if necessary. Why? There are more enterprises, more products are being produced, - said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

In this regard, in the coming years, it is planned to create 6 chemical-technological clusters, the first of which was in Navoiazot.

The second cluster will be located in the Bukhara province, where the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl acetate (PVA), polypropylene and other polymers from natural gas will be established. Dozens of modern enterprises for the production of finished goods will be created there.

The third cluster will be built at the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex and the Dekhkanabad Potash Fertilizer Plant in the Kashkadarya province. It will produce the main components of detergents and household chemicals, bimodal polyethylene and other goods.

The fourth cluster based on Ferganaazot will produce varnishes, melamine for furniture and synthetic fibers for the textile industry.

The fifth cluster will be located in Ustyurt, Karakalpakstan. It organizes the production of soda ash, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene and polypropylene.

The sixth cluster in the Tashkent province will produce monoammonium phosphate, sulfur urea, other phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers, protein, and detergents.

As a result of the implementation of these projects, by 2026, the volume of production of chemical products will increase 3 times compared to the current year and in 2030 will amount to 7 percent of GDP.

The head of state emphasized the need to train skilled specialists for large-scale projects in this area.

For this, a scientific and educational cluster in the field of chemistry will be created in the village of Ulugbek in Tashkent. This cluster will include 4 higher educational institutions and a modern scientific center for chemistry.

The President also laid a capsule in the foundation of a future polyvinyl chloride plant.