Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jan. 29
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
South Korea's ENK CO LTD will build 10 certified centers in Uzbekistan for installation of compressed gas cylinders on cars, a representative of the Uzbek national holding company Uzbekneftegaz told Trend Jan. 29.
The centers' total cost will be $15 million.
The project for construction of the facilities is financed with help of Uzbekneftegaz's own funds worth $7.5 million, as well as ENK's direct investments in the same amount.
The project is planned to be completed by late 2016.
Uzbekistan is realizing a phased program to convert motor transport to run on gas.
In 2013, the Ko-UNG Cylinder, a joint venture of Uzbekistan and South Korea, put into operation a plant for production of gas cylinder equipment.
The design capacity of the plant, which is located in the Navoi free industrial economic zone, is 120,000 car gas cylinders annually.
Currently, the Uzbek-Chinese joint venture UTG-Kerui is building a network of compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations in Uzbekistan. The joint venture plans to construct a total of 46 CNG filling stations in all regions of the country by 2017 and invest $70 million in their construction.
Uzbekistan ranks the third among the CIS countries in terms of natural gas production and is among the ten largest gas-producing countries in the world.
Every year, the country produces over 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas, about 25 percent of which is exported.