Uzbekistan said to plot state fund London IPO before gold miner

Uzbekistan is likely to push ahead with the initial public offering of its national investment fund as the country’s first-ever listing in London, paving the way for other state-backed companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

UzNIF, as the investment fund is known, has been preparing documents for its first-time share sales in London and Tashkent, which could be kicked off as soon as the first quarter of next year, the people said.

Meanwhile, the work on the IPO of Navoi Mining & Metallurgical Co., one of the world’s largest gold miners, has slowed, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions aren’t public. It’s unlikely that Navoi could start the IPO in London before the end of this year as set out in an April presidential decree, the people said.

IPOs are part of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s plans to speed up a sweeping privatization drive to attract foreign capital. The April decree has a list of major companies in the country that aim for listings this year and next. Several closely held companies such as fintech and e-commerce platform Uzum and integrated logistics operator Centrum are also exploring going public. The first Uzbek IPO in London will help set a benchmark for valuing other candidates from the country.

UzNIF, which is managed by Franklin Templeton, has picked banks to help arrange the potential offering, Bloomberg News reported in September. In the same month, Mirziyoyev backed a government proposal to restructure the fund’s portfolio to make it more attractive to investors.

The fund’s portfolio has been reduced to 15 companies from the original 18 after the government reclaimed stakes in Uzbekistan Post, Uzbekistan Airports, and two smaller lenders. In return, the fund received additional shares in some assets it already held and a 30% stake in Uzpromstroybank, the country’s second-largest lender. These changes increased UzNIF’s total assets under management to $1.93 billion, according to a presidential decree and data on the fund’s website.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance, which oversees Uzbekistan’s privatization, and the Presidential Office didn’t provide a comment. A representative for Franklin Templeton said UzNIF still aims for a listing in the first half as set out in the presidential decree, while there’s an ongoing update of the net asset value of the fund that’s expected to be finalized soon.

Gold miner

With the Navoi Mining IPO, Uzbek officials are concerned that the deal could reduce the substantial dividend that the gold miner generates for the state budget, some of the people said. Mirziyoyev is supposed to make the final call on whether and when to proceed with the sale and has yet to signal his stance, the people said.

The company is strategically important for Uzbekistan, as gold sales make up a major share of the nation’s exports and the metal accounts for about 80% of its international reserves. It almost doubled its profit in the first half of 2025 to $1.5 billion amid surging gold prices. It declared dividends of $1.7 billion in 2024, accounting for about 7.5% of the country’s annual revenue.

Navoi’s press office said they are not able to comment on its IPO timeline. UzAssets, which oversees IPO preparations of major state companies including Navoi, confirmed the gold miner is still preparing for the listing, but didn’t elaborate on the timing. At a conference in Tashkent last week, UzAssets chief executive officer Bobur Abdinazarov, said the “state must still assess the optimal timing and market conditions before proceeding,” adding that some banks are expecting gold prices to reach between $5,000 and $6,000 an ounce.

Gold reached a record of $4,381.52 last month, heading for its best annual gain since 1979. State-backed Navoi Mining has been working with Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to arrange a possible offering, Bloomberg News reported in August. It is seeking a valuation of around $20 billion including debt, people familiar with the matter have said.

“Navoi is the crown jewel of Uzbekistan — strategically and politically — so they’ll likely keep it for later, when market depth and valuation visibility improve,” said Luis Saenz, partner at Cyprus-based Roemer Capital, which also has an office in Tashkent. “Uznif, on the other hand, fits better as an earlier test case: it’s a cleaner, forward-looking growth story with less sensitivity, and it helps build the track record.”

(By Andrey Biryukov and Yuliya Fedorinova)