Foreign company causes 7 billion soums in environmental damage in Samarkand

A foreign mining company caused more than 7 billion soums in environmental damage in Samarkand region. This was reported by the Ministry of Ecology, environmental protection, and climate change.

According to the report, the foreign company illegally excavated nearly 51 cubic meters of soil in violation of the license terms and existing legal requirements. The case materials have been forwarded to the General Prosecutor’s Office.

The State Environmental Control Inspectorate under the Ministry of Ecology, environmental protection, and climate change inspected the activities of the foreign company ’’S.I.’’ located in Bulungur district of Samarkand region.

According to the inspection, on November 25, 2024, the Ministry of Mining industry and geology of Uzbekistan held an electronic online auction for conducting geological exploration at the ’’Jomboy-3’’ site, an 11.3-hectare area consisting of loess-like rocks, located 7.7 kilometers northwest of the center of Bulungur district, Samarkand region. The auction was organized based on Decision No. 44 of October 23, 2024, issued by the ’’Center for subsoil use’’ under the ministry.

The foreign company ’’S.I.’’ was declared the winner of the auction, and on November 27, 2024, the Ministry of Mining industry and geology issued a permit allowing the company to carry out geological exploration work.

However, the company failed to obtain the required permit for extraction and carried out illegal mining of non-metallic minerals in violation of the conditions set out in the exploration permit and the auction terms.

Measurement works revealed that the foreign company had unlawfully excavated 50,859.25 cubic meters of soil (loess-like rocks).

As a result, the company violated Articles 18–48 of the law ’’On environmental protection’’ and Article 34 of the law ’’On subsoil.’’

Furthermore, the environmental damage caused was estimated at 7 billion 374 million 591 thousand 250 soums.

’’The collected documents have been submitted to the General Prosecutor’s Office for legal assessment and appropriate action,’’ the report stated.

It is worth noting that earlier, the environmental damage of nearly 17 billion soums had been recorded in Bekobod.