Shortcomings in the course of preparations for the winter season as well as issues of ensuring food security have been critically analyzed at the meeting chaired by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

  In particular, the head of our state pointed to cases of illegal use of natural gas and coal. He cited a brick factory in Mubarek district that stole 4.3 million cubic meters of gas by unauthorized connection to an underground pipeline. This equals the volume of gas supply to as many as 8 thousand households.

  In addition, this year, due to the installation of modern meters at major supply nodes in 74 districts, the theft of 7 million cubic meters of natural gas by more than 2 thousand wholesale consumers was revealed.

  Given these facts, liability for illegal use of energy resources has been proposed to be toughened.

  “How are we going to spend winter this year? Every executive must have an answer to this question today. Indeed, problems on this front are plentiful. We need to deeply examine and solve them in the context of mahallas,” the President stressed.

  Steps have been agreed on to repair 153 boiler houses and 2 thousand 802 kilometers of heat supply networks.

  The head of state spoke on incidents related to carbon monoxide in households and explosions. Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed to critically study the activities of the Fire Safety Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and reform it radically, as well as to strengthen fire prevention methods and schemes.

  The President urged a deputy prime minister to make full use of the available capacities and opportunities, ensure uninterrupted power supply to the population and economic sectors, to secure a loss-free winter.

  Another pressing issue – uninterrupted food supplies – was discussed in detail at the videoconference meeting.

  Shavkat Mirziyoyev pointed out sharp rises in food prices, and gave a range of directives to address the problem.

  The meeting participants analyzed dynamics of prices for basic foods in every region.

Responsible departments have been instructed to create headquarters in each region and combat speculation in prices. An interdepartmental working group will be formed to evaluate daily turnover, prices for basic food products in the domestic and foreign markets, current needs and demand.

In light of the growing demand in retailing ahead of the New Year, the importance of supplying the market with essential products, organizing low-price fairs in dehkan marketplaces and major shopping malls was noted.

As analyses show, prices in the global food market will fluctuate sharply. Therefore, a special fund has been set up and $ 50 million allocated for guaranteed supplies of basic types of products to the domestic market.

Officials were instructed to use these funds to form reserves of basic foods for at least 3 months, first of all, vegetable oil and other vital products. Similar measures will be taken through the funds created under hokimiyats.

The Prime Minister was instructed to coordinate all efforts to ensure food security, to conduct market interventions – building on corresponding analyses – to purchase necessary foods, while supporting entrepreneurs.