Jizzakh Petroleum JV LLC has signed a four-sided Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Russia’s Gazprombank and State Development Corp. VEB.RF, and the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR) for the financing of the new greenfield gas chemical complex based on Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) technology to be built in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan - Hydrocarbon Engineering reports.

The MOU establishes a framework for potential future cooperation between the Parties with respect to the financing of the Project and the insurance of the risk related to the Facility in the amount of US$800 million preliminarily.

Jizzakh was named a major investor in the project late last year. The US$2.8-billion gas chemical plant, one of the largest and most complex in the CIS region, is regarded as key to the future monetization of Uzbekistan natural gas through the production of export-oriented high-value-added gas-chemical products.

This project will become the core of the future gas chemical cluster, which will be assigned the status of a special economic zone, the first of its kind in Central Asia.

Nigora Ibadova, Director for Strategic Development, Jizzakh Petroleum

She also noted the importance of ongoing support and cooperation with financial institutions such as GPB, VEB.RF and EXIAR, particularly because of the company’s plan to bring in a significant amount of equipment, materials and services for the project from Russia. The signing of this memorandum is therefore an important step forward in this process.

The signing ceremony was held on the occasion of the XXIV St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

When completed, the state of the art 720 000 tpy complex is expected to process 1.5 billion m³ of natural gas annually  and  produce  high-quality  polymers  used in many sectors of the world  economy.