China is Uzbekistan’s choice for second nuclear plant project, reveals Serbia’s president

Uzbekistan plans to work with China to build a second nuclear power plant (NPP), according to remarks made by the president of Serbia during a visit by his Uzbek counterpart to Belgrade.

In stating that Uzbekistan, already working with Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom to construct its first NPP, is turning to Beijing for the second facility, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic appears to have stated what nobody else has said before publicly.

Recounting a private conversation with Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Vucic quoted the Uzbek president as saying: “I am building one nuclear power plant with the Russians, another plant with the Chinese, but even that is not enough for me.”

If the suggestion that Uzbekistan has already decided it will turn to China for the additional facility – a path already adopted by neighbouring Kazakhstan, which has awarded one NPP project to Russia and has signalled it could grant China two – is correct, it could go some way to explaining reports published earlier this month that Russian President Vladimir Putin has lately seemed peeved with Uzbekistan’s leader. There have also been speculative reports that Rosatom’s status as main contractor in the first NPP project could be under threat. Uzbekistan’s armed forces, meanwhile, also recently showed a preference for Chinese hardware over rival Russian options when they for the first time publicly demonstrated J-10CE fighter jets bought from Beijing.

Mirziyoyev disclosed that “extensive preparatory work” had been carried out for a second NPP back on August 17, but did not reveal who would partner Uzbekistan as the main contractor in delivering the project or provide any key parameters such as the planned size, location and cost of the plant.

Vucic made his comments about Mirziyoyev’s nuclear ambitions during the latter’s official visit to Belgrade on September 8, pointing to the Central Asian country’s energy investments as an example of how fast-growing economies are preparing to address rising power demand.

The Serbian leader, who was speaking at a bilateral business forum, linked Uzbekistan’s energy strategy to broader global shifts, including the rapid expansion of data centres, artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles (EVs), all of which are expected to place additional pressure on electricity supplies.

During the visit, Serbia and Uzbekistan signed a strategic partnership, advanced plans for a direct air link between Belgrade and Tashkent that could be operational within seven to eight months and agreed on an industrial cooperation action plan for 2026-2028.

Uzbekistan’s first NPP, or to be more precise, nuclear power generation complex grouping large reactors with small modular reactors (SMRs), will be located in Farish district of the central-eastern region of Jizzakh. Rosatom is to deliver two VVER-1000 reactors with a capacity of 1 GW each and two RITM-200N small modular reactors with a capacity of 55 MW each.

The technical launch of the first SMR is expected in October-November 2029, followed by the second six months later. The first large reactor is scheduled to be commissioned in 2033. The construction of the entire complex is currently scheduled for completion in 2034–2035.

The baseline cost of the project is currently estimated at up to $9.5bn. Eurasianet reported on September 4 that “where all the financing will come from remains up in the air. Russia has proposed at least one financing plan that Tashkent apparently found unattractive”.