Uzbekistan’s population growth and active urbanization are raising the demand for construction materials, the president Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at a government meeting on Monday.

Reportedly, year-to-date, the volume of contracts in the country has increased by 10.3%, but loads of unclaimed products has accumulated in warehouses - ceramic tiles, plasterboard, glass, basalt wool. At the same time, similar products continue to be imported: the annual import of these materials is valued at about $225 million dollars.

In this regard, Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered the introduction of a new system for lending to developers: when issuing loans to developers for working capital, a system will be introduced in which priority is given to the use of domestic building materials.

The president also touched upon the quality of building materials. Last year alone, checks found, 1,600 cases of using low-quality products. In response to this, a register of manufacturers of building materials and their products will be created on the Transparent Construction platform. A quality rating will be introduced for goods, which will be updated every quarter.

He also underscored that despite the existence of new types of energy-efficient materials, most of them do not have standards or do not meet international requirements. By the end of the year, 68 international standards have been instructed to be implemented.

In July last year, the Central Bank presented an overview of the dynamics of the construction materials market. According to the Central Bank, the domestic supply of construction materials is growing, which has a stabilizing effect on prices and has a downward effect on the cost of new housing.