Tashkent Mayor Shavkat Umurzakov has come out against handing over the grounds of state schools and kindergartens to public-private partnership (PPP) projects, he said in an interview with Gazeta.

Speaking about returning previously transferred land to the state, Umurzakov said the cases under review include school grounds that were given over to PPP projects, as well as plots that were first excluded from school territory and transferred to the city administration, then passed on to other parties.

"As for school and kindergarten grounds, my policy is that I am categorically opposed to handing such land over to PPP projects. On the grounds of a school or kindergarten, I support building only a state school or a state kindergarten," he said.

Asked by Gazeta whether that meant there should be no private educational institution even on the grounds of a state school or kindergarten, the mayor said yes.

"In my view, there shouldn't be a private one either. Given people's ability to pay and the social situation, the state today is able to build such facilities itself, and district mayors can build them. When the state had no money, PPP may well have been a good and right decision," the head of the city administration said.

Umurzakov said the PPP mechanism could be used for other city facilities.

"I would use PPP in other areas. For example, we can auction bus stops to businesses. If an entrepreneur pays, cleans and maintains the facility, and the property still ends up state-owned, why not use it, as long as he doesn't build an obstructive shop there and creates proper infrastructure?" he asked.

He said the grounds of educational and medical institutions should be treated differently.

"But education is different. If you ask whether PPP projects should be allowed inside the grounds of health care facilities, schools, kindergartens or institutes, I would say no," the head of the capital's city administration said.

Umurzakov named dormitory construction as an acceptable PPP model in higher education.

"There is also a good example of PPP in higher education: building dormitories. If a university lacks a dormitory, it can provide land, and the private sector, in agreement with the university, will build one under PPP. That is different. But if someone comes and says, 'I'll build a private institute on the university grounds,' I will be against it," he said.