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Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji is preparing to sign agreements to manage electricity distribution networks in the Tashkent, Jizzakh and Syrdarya regions within the coming week, the company’s chairman Cemil Kazanci said on October 16, 2026. The announcement came after Kazanci met President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during a session of the Council of Investors in the fuel and energy sector.
Kazanci told the O’zbekiston 24 television channel that the group intends to invest in regional distribution networks with the goals of reducing energy losses, lowering the cost of electricity and improving overall consumption efficiency. He described the three regions as an extension of work Aksa Enerji has already begun in Samarkand.
Speaking after the presidential meeting, Kazanci said the discussions had identified priority tasks for the company. He indicated that Aksa Enerji would review the proposed projects and submit its own proposals before the visit concludes with binding agreements.
Samarkand as the template
The planned expansion follows a precedent set in Samarkand. In November 2025, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that Aksa Enerji had been awarded management of the Samarkand regional power grid after winning an international tender that launched a year earlier with the participation of the International Finance Corporation. The contract runs for 30 years under a public-private partnership model.
Under the Samarkand agreement, the physical infrastructure remains state property. The entity known as Regional Electrical Networks retains the right to use the assets without transferring ownership or disposal rights to the private partner. Aksa Enerji disclosed in its 2025 annual report plans to invest $1 billion in modernising the network over the contract period.
The Ministry of Energy set a binding minimum investment threshold of $350 million for the first ten years of the Samarkand project. Presidential parameters approved in August 2026 further specified that the company must invest at least $27 million within the first two years of taking over the network and must demonstrate measurable reductions in energy losses.
Broader privatisation drive
The three new regions fit within a wider government programme announced by President Mirziyoyev at the Tashkent International Investment Forum in June 2025, when he said the Samarkand grid would be transferred to private management and that private operators would be brought into networks across eight more regions during 2026. The agreements now being prepared for Tashkent, Jizzakh and Syrdarya represent part of that commitment.
Aksa Enerji’s footprint in Uzbekistan already extends beyond distribution. The company has built four power generation plants in the country at a combined cost of $750 million. The planned move into electricity and gas distribution marks a significant broadening of its role in the local market.
Specific investment commitments for the Tashkent, Jizzakh and Syrdarya networks have not yet been disclosed. It is also not clear from available information whether the new agreements will follow a fresh tender process or represent a direct extension of the existing cooperation framework. Kazanci indicated that final terms would be settled before his delegation departs.