Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Messages like "The prosecutor of Tashkent region asked not to turn off the brick factory illegally connected to the gas supply" spread on social networks. In this regard, the Ministry of Energy reported the following.

The brick factory located in Almalyk, owned by Olmalik gishtchisi LLC, was disconnected from gas supply for production needs on 29 November 2022. The shutdown was carried out in accordance with the established procedure as part of a temporary ban on the use of natural gas due to the need to provide gas supply to the population and social facilities in the autumn-winter period. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

During the audit, the working group found that this economic entity then arbitrarily connected to the natural gas network with the support of a local gas supply organization. Over the past period, the brick factory illegally used 118,282 cubic meters of gas, which caused damage worth 118 million soums.

In this case, on 9 December 2022, the Almalyk City Prosecutor’s Office initiated a criminal case against Olmalik Gishtchisi LLC and officials of the Almalykshahargaz branch under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code.

During the audit, it was revealed that the head of the regional gas supply organization petitioned the prosecutor’s office about the need for the operation of this enterprise, explaining this by the fact that it is included in a certain list of exporters, which is not true. In connection with the revealed facts, pre-investigation measures are also being taken against him.

Users of social networks, bloggers of the Ministry of Energy are asked to correctly interpret the situation at the Almalyk brick factory and not to disseminate information that has not been officially confirmed.

Currently, the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in close cooperation with the Prosecutor General’s Office, is taking strict measures on all revealed facts of illegal use of energy resources.