From May 1st Uzbekistan will introduce a permanent ban on the mining of non-metallic materials in the riverbeds of the Chirchik, Sangzor, Zarafshan, Naryn, Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya rivers.
Permits to extract sand and gravel materials from river beds and other water areas will only be granted through the electronic trading platform E-Auksion. This proposal was made jointly by the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change and the Ministry of Mines and Geology, and was approved by president Shavkat Mirziyoyev on January 17th. The boundaries of the areas covered by the ban will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.
During the moratorium period there will be a tenfold increase in the fines imposed for environmental damage caused to these areas as a result of illegal extraction. These fines will be directed to the country’s ecological fund.
The ban prohibits the extraction of sand and gravel materials in river beds and other water areas, as well as other extraction works on other deposits located in mountainous or foothill (land) areas.
