WHAT ABOUT THE GREEN ENERGIES ?
With a very impressive academic and family background, Oybek Shaykhov works in the oil, gas and energy industries for 15 years ; especially on projects in Central Asia and the Middle East. He (co-)founded a group of companies and 2 international associations.
In the beginning of June 2021, he accepted to discuss with the journalists invited by Frank Schwalba-Hoth ( ex-MEP) near the EU Parlement, the challenges of his home country at the crossroad of Chinese and Russian influence zones, his admiration for the construction of the European Union, the (economic and social) future after COVID-19.
LHCH asked question about Green energies in the perpectives of 2050 CLIMATE ACTION PLAN.
Let’s first introduce Oybek Shaykhov. His Great grandfather was special USSR advisor to Fidel Castro during the missile crisis. His grandfather Minister and his father Ambassador. So it is understandable that this brilliant businessman is quintilingual (Uzbek, Russian, English, German, French). The same for his studies of International Relations, Economy as well as Management at the Uzbek State Economic University, at the Brussels VUB Vesalius College, at the Paris International School of Management (ISM), the New York Columbia Business School (CBS) and the Oxford Saïd Business School (SBS).
Oybek Shaykhov created an international NGO to convince highly skilled persons with Uzbekistan origins to return to the country to work in senior government roles. And a consulting company, specialised in political risk management, negotiation and business strategy for global clients in Central Asia ; an IT company that develops and operates public wi-fi networks in Uzbekistan and had developed a service to digitize COVID tracing efforts and menus for restaurants around Europe ; an engineering company focussing on infrastructure projects in energy and petrochemicals (in the moment the largest fully private company in that sector in Uzbekistan) and finally, the European-Uzbekistan Association on Economic Cooperation (EUROUZ), which aims to boost economic diplomacy and cooperation efforts between the EU and Uzbekistan.
Frank Frank Schwalba-Hoth introduce Uzbekistan as follow :
« Uzbekistan is Double-landlocked with the size of Sweden and about the same number of inhabitants as Poland, it is a country with numerous facets: origin of apricots, crocuses, peaches and tulips, the birthplace of Roxana, the bride of Alexander the Great, and of Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, the inventor of Algebra, blessed by the presence of unique historic cities like Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva (nowadays linked by high-speed trains), an observatory in medieval times, a shrinking Aral Sea and in the moment a country, where the post-soviet society is looking for an independent way to go and opening-up to international human rights standards while producing cars and solar panels … »
LHCH : Is Uzbekistan will try to follow the 2050 CLIMATE ACTION PLAN ?
Oybek Shaykhov: We are the most populous country in Central Asia, which still relies on fossil fuels to produce the vast majority of its electricity, but also wants to turn to renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and nuclear power. ..
LHCH : What is the schedule ?
Oybek Shaykhov: On May 4 2020, the Uzbek government approved the concept of providing electric power for the next ten years. With demand for electricity set to double as early as 2023, a plan has been drawn up to ensure that by 2030, energy production will be more efficient and diversified. More than a quarter of the power generation capacity is expected to be supplied by renewable energies. So the first phase would consist in the modernization of gas installations producing electricity, and should extend over the whole decade 2020–2030. We are counting on a collaboration with UK companies for the contribution of technologies which will be able to help us in this way. We have a knowledge on these fields since we construct a lot of electric cars in Uzbekistan. By the end of the decade, electricity production is expected to reach 120.8 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), twice its current level. The plan was validated by the government on May 4.
LHCH: Do you think that the implementation of these measures is not idealistic taking into account the reality on the situation ? There are a lot of interests in this area …
Oybek Shaykhov: Yes. Despite the fight against a certain opacity in the energy fields, certain gray areas persist. As you say, many interests are at stake. The collaborations with Russia in particular remain far from the traditional framework which you know in Europe. The power of the new NGOs is still weak. We say in Uzbekistan : « Who controls the pipelines, controls the country ».
