Akkermann Cement Central Asia, a subsidiary of Russia's Akkermann Cement, has become the owner of a 98.6% stake in the Akhangarancement cement plant, the press service of the company said.

The group of companies united under the Akkermann Cement brand is part of the diversified Russian holding USM of the billionaire Alisher Usmanov. In 2021, Akkermann Cement produced about 4 million tons of cement. The main assets of the company are cement plants in Novotroitsk and Gornozavodsk, and now Akhangarancement will join them.

At the end of 2021, Akhangarancement put into operation a new 2.5 million-ton annual capacity dry cement production line.

“The new line requires high qualifications and production experience from process engineers and maintenance personnel. Akkermann Cement has a successful track record of effectively managing such modern lines,” the company said.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Akkermann Cement Anton Selyavko said that "the investment in Akhangarancement, like all USM investments in Uzbekistan, is primarily aimed at the development of the country, the small homeland of Alisher Usmanov, the main shareholder of USM."

“All the profit that will be generated here will remain in Uzbekistan and will be directed to the socio-economic development of the country. We see great potential in this. A growing population, demand for high-quality new housing, in the future - support for consumer demand through mortgage lending, all this will contribute to the growth of cement consumption,” he said.

According to him, last year the cement market in Uzbekistan entered a phase of capacity surplus and high competition, both between local producers and from imports from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

“The cement market in Russia has been in a phase of capacity surplus for a long time, since 2015. Under these conditions, Akkermann Cement showed good results and gained experience in the effective organization of production and sales, which will be used in Uzbekistan,” said Anton Selyavko.

The transaction was implemented with the involvement of financing from Gazprombank.

Lamanka Enterprises of Cyprus and Giacinttar of the British Virgin Islands announced the sale of their shares in Akhangarancement on 13 January. The block of shares is estimated at 1.88 trillion soums.