State of play of green finance in Uzbekistan: Opportunities for and barriers to green bond issuance

Аннотация

This article presents the potential role of green bonds in financing Uzbekistan’s green transition, the priority
sectors for green bond issuance and barriers that potential issuers face. Non-sovereign issuers, notably subnational
governments and corporate entities, face barriers in terms of the country’s existing regulatory requirements and persistent
knowledge and expertise gaps, but there is considerable potential for the use of the instrument to finance these issuers’
green projects. Other bond-like instruments, such as green sukuks, an Islamic fixed-income instrument, could prove
effective at mobilizing domestic demand and offer an alternative financing mechanism if regulatory hurdles to the
development of Islamic finance in Uzbekistan are removed. The energy sector, particularly renewable power generation
projects, is the sector with the most potential for green bond issuances, but agriculture, transport, housing and water
management projects could benefit as well.