Environmental Assessment - The Times Of Central Asia

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Environmental Assessment

Sea Breeze Uzbekistan Clears Second Stage of Environmental Review

The $5 billion Sea Breeze Uzbekistan project has completed the first two stages of its environmental impact assessment, receiving positive state environmental opinions for both, according to the Ecology Committee. The controversial resort is planned for the shores of the Charvak Reservoir, one of the most popular recreation areas near Tashkent. Its location has made the project the subject of sustained environmental scrutiny. Uzbekistan’s National Committee for Ecology and Climate Change said the second-stage opinion was issued on September 10. The review will continue with a final assessment planned after construction is completed and before the complex is put into operation. The project is being developed by Azerbaijani businessman and singer Emin Agalarov, who spent more than two decades at Crocus Group, the property company founded by his father, Aras Agalarov. He left in 2023 to focus on his own development business. Agalarov was formerly married to Leyla Aliyeva, daughter of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. His flagship Sea Breeze resort is on Azerbaijan’s Caspian coast. Plans for the resort include hotels and residences alongside leisure and commercial facilities. The project also envisages a bridge across the reservoir and venues for year-round concerts and festivals. From Government Approval to Environmental Review In August 2025, the Uzbek government approved the direct lease of 577 hectares in the Bostanlyk district of Tashkent region to Sea Breeze Uzbekistan LLC for 25 years, with a preferential right to extend the lease. For critics of the project, the central issue from the outset has been water. Charvak plays an important role in the region’s water system and is used for water supply, irrigation, and hydropower. Its shores are also one of the main resort areas for residents of Tashkent. Construction of a large complex has raised concerns about pollution and the pressure it would put on the shoreline. The #SaveChorvoq campaign emerged on social media in 2025 as activists sought greater scrutiny of the plans. The first stage of the environmental review, approved in February 2026, required further hydrological and biodiversity studies. The second stage reviewed those findings and set more specific conditions for construction and operation. Its positive opinion was issued on September 10 and remains valid for three years. Public hearings were held in the Bostanlyk district on January 23, 2026, giving residents and environmental groups an opportunity to raise objections and proposals. Members of the Ecology Committee’s Public Council have also carried out site inspections, which the committee said have so far found no breaches of environmental requirements. Separate water-protection requirements apply to the project. Its wastewater is to be taken outside the coastal area and directed to a centralized treatment system, while construction must take place outside designated water-protection zones. The timing of the approvals has also drawn scrutiny. The government approved the investment project and land lease in August 2025, six months before the first-stage environmental opinion was issued. In August this year, authorities were still awaiting documents needed for the second stage, including details on wastewater infrastructure and the scale...

Environmental Assessment

Uzbekistan’s $5 Billion Sea Breeze Resort Awaits Environmental Review

Uzbekistan’s environmental authorities have still not received the full set of documents for Sea Breeze Uzbekistan, a controversial $5 billion resort planned on the shore of the Charvak Reservoir. Azerbaijani businessman Emin Agalarov presented the project to Uzbek authorities in late 2024, and Agalarov Development is participating in the venture. Although the government approved the investment project in August 2025 and public hearings were held in January, key technical documents required for the second stage of the state environmental review remain outstanding. Sea Breeze is planned to cover 577 hectares on the eastern shore of Charvak, around 80 kilometers from Tashkent. The year-round resort is expected to include hotels and residential developments, along with dining and entertainment facilities. Gayrat Mukhamedov, director of the State Center for Environmental Expertise, told Gazeta.uz that “only the first stage of the procedure,” involving the selection and allocation of land, has been completed. The center has not yet received the documents needed to assess the environmental impact of the complex itself. The location has been one of the main sources of controversy surrounding the project. Charvak lies in the foothills of the Western Tien Shan and remains one of Uzbekistan’s most popular recreational areas. After the Sea Breeze plans were published, environmentalists and civic activists called for more information about the potential impact of development on the reservoir. In the summer of 2025, the #SaveChorvoq campaign emerged on social media. On August 1, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the investment project. It is being implemented by Sea Breeze Uzbekistan LLC, a joint venture established with the participation of Agalarov Development. One of the conditions is protecting Charvak from pollution. Wastewater must be taken outside the coastal zone and sent to a centralized treatment system, with no discharge into the reservoir. The requirement applies both during construction and during the subsequent operation of the resort. Mukhamedov said the environmental review center is still waiting for final technical data on the treatment system, including its capacity, as well as definitive figures for the resort’s accommodation capacity and the number of cottages, homes, and other facilities. Public hearings on the environmental impact assessment for Sea Breeze were held in Bostanlyk District on January 23, 2026. The issues scheduled for discussion included the project’s impact on water, air, and soil, waste management, preservation of green areas, and environmental monitoring. At the hearings, project representatives discussed the future sewage system, wastewater treatment, and measures to preserve biodiversity. The plan envisaged wastewater being collected through a centralized sewage system for treatment away from the reservoir. The public hearings, however, do not replace the second stage of the state environmental review. More than six months later, the technical documents for that stage have still not been submitted. Mukhamedov said the next phase will depend in part on seasonal studies by Uzbekistan’s Institute of Botany and Institute of Zoology into the possible effects on local flora and fauna. The work is expected to span autumn, winter, and spring, while the environmental review...

Rogun Hydropower Plant

Rogun Dam’s Cross-Border Environmental Impact Draws Scrutiny

An international environmental coalition has raised new concerns about the environmental assessment of Tajikistan’s Rogun Hydropower Plant, warning that its potential cross-border and cumulative impacts on downstream countries are being underestimated. The group, Rivers without Boundaries, presented its latest report, Eyes Wide Shut: Ignoring the Transboundary and Cumulative Impacts of the Rogun Hydropower Plant, highlighting what it describes as serious shortcomings in the project’s environmental and social review. According to the report, the current assessment of Rogun’s transboundary effects does not fully comply with the environmental and social standards of the World Bank. Experts argue the analysis relies on outdated data from 2014 and uses static modeling scenarios that fail to reflect climate change trends and the current hydrological realities of the Amu Darya basin. Rivers without Boundaries contends that this approach prevents a realistic understanding of how the project could affect downstream water availability and ecosystems. The coalition also criticizes what it describes as a failure to account for key external factors, particularly the construction of Afghanistan’s Qosh Tepa canal, which is expected to significantly alter regional water balances. Rather than applying a basin-wide and cumulative assessment, the developers have labeled Rogun’s impact as “neutral”, a claim environmental experts deem misleading. “The authors of the impact assessment preferred to act with their eyes wide shut, excluding the most sensitive and uncomfortable scenarios,” said Evgeny Simonov, international coordinator of Rivers without Boundaries. He added that portraying the world’s tallest dam as environmentally neutral contradicts the very premise of cumulative impact assessment. Without binding commitments on environmental water releases and artificial floods, Simonov warned, the project risks prolonging ecological degradation in downstream areas for decades. The report flags particular threats to biodiversity and wetlands in the Amu Darya delta, many of which are protected under the Ramsar Convention. It notes that the Rogun assessment lacks clear mechanisms to guarantee water flows to these critical habitats during dry periods. The coalition also points to significant gaps in public consultation processes, especially in downstream countries, raising questions about the legitimacy of conclusions drawn regarding the project’s social acceptability. Alexander Kolotov, the coalition’s Central Asia regional coordinator, said consultations were not conducted in affected areas of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. “The risks linked to seasonal water redistribution and the launch of the Qosh Tepa canal were effectively left out of the analysis,” he said, calling this a dangerous precedent for a project of regional significance. Rivers without Boundaries is calling for a full Strategic Environmental Assessment of the entire Amu Darya basin, along with the development of legally binding water management plans that include climate adaptation strategies and biodiversity protection measures. Without a fundamental revision of the current approach, the coalition warns, Rogun could become a long-term source of environmental and social tension in Central Asia. At the heart of the concern is the filling of the Rogun reservoir, which experts say could reduce water flows to the Amu Darya delta by 25% or more, accelerating desertification and threatening the livelihoods of up to 10...