The European Union has announced a large-scale international tender for the construction of an 'Artificial Intelligence Gigafactory'—seven new data centers worth 30 billion euros.
The European Union has announced a large-scale international tender for the construction of an 'Artificial Intelligence Gigafactory'—seven new data centers worth 30 billion euros.
It is emphasized that the implementation of this initiative will significantly reduce the excessive dependence of the European community on American aviation systems and Chinese foreign digital technologies.
The financial structure of the project provides for attracting funds from three main sources. Five billion euros are allocated directly from the European budget, five billion euros are provided by EU member states as co-financing, and the remaining 20 billion euros are planned to be attracted through a consortium of private investors.
According to the approved schedule, the laying of the foundation for construction is scheduled for early 2027, and the launch of the first capacity and the start of operations of the computing platforms are planned for 2028.
Currently, more than ten countries are preparing applications to host the supercomputing center on their territory.
From January to June 2026, the average nominal wage in Uzbekistan was 7.09 million soms, with the highest figure recorded in Tashkent.
The wage for January-June 2026 reached an average of 7,911 thousand soms nationwide. This figure exceeds the same period last year by 18.4%. For comparison, in January-June 2022, the average wage was 3,551.6 thousand soms, which represents an almost twofold increase in the average salary over four years.
When comparing by region, the highest average wage level was noted in the city of Tashkent, where it reached 12.014 million soms. Following in terms of income level is the Navoi region, where the average salary amounted to 8.723 million soms.
The lowest values for the average wage were registered in the Kashkadarya region, where it was 4.865 million soms, as well as in the Surkhandarya region, where the indicator reached 4.937 million soms.
The volume of non-performing loans (NPL) in the banking system of Uzbekistan continues to grow. According to data from the Central Bank, by the end of the first half of 2026, the volume of such loans reached 22.9 trillion sums. This figure is significantly higher than 18.1 trillion sums at the beginning of the year, an increase of 27 percent.
Although the growth of the credit portfolio is considered a natural process, the faster rate of increase in non-performing loans raises concerns within the banking system. Over six months, the total credit portfolio grew from 604 trillion sums to 643 trillion sums, representing an increase of 6.4 percent. Meanwhile, non-performing loans grew almost four times faster—by 27 percent.
The share of non-performing loans in the total credit portfolio has also increased. If this indicator was 2.99 percent at the beginning of the year, it reached 3.57 percent by the end of the half-year period. Analysts note that the majority of non-performing loans are concentrated in state-participating commercial banks. The volume of NPL in these banks increased from 12.8 trillion sums to 16.4 trillion sums over six months. This means that almost 72 percent of all non-performing loans in the country's banking system are concentrated specifically in state banks.
As a result, the share of non-performing loans in state banks rose from 3.17 percent to 3.89 percent. At the same time, the situation in banks with private and foreign capital remained relatively stable, with the NPL share increasing from 2.62 percent to 2.95 percent.
In terms of relative growth, the largest increase was recorded at TBC Bank, where the share of non-performing loans increased from 5.71 percent to 12.12 percent, becoming the highest in the system. Microcreditbank also demonstrated an increase in the NPL share from 4.41 percent to 7.86 percent, surpassing others in absolute volume of non-performing loans, which increased by almost 900 billion sums over six months.
Despite the overall trend of growth, some banks managed to improve the quality of their credit portfolio. The most significant positive changes were observed at Poytaht Bank, where the share of non-performing loans decreased from 24.40 percent to 7.32 percent. Kapitalbank reduced the volume of non-performing loans by almost 200 billion sums, bringing the NPL share down from 2.81 percent to 2.14 percent. Ipoteka Bank achieved a reduction in the volume of non-performing loans by 163 billion sums. Indicators also decreased at Hayot Bank (from 3.96 percent to 2.68 percent) and Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan (from 3.86 percent to 2.96 percent).
Furthermore, the share of non-performing loans remained at 0 percent in KDB Bank Uzbekistan and Octobank. Uzumbank, ApexBank, and Open Bank were among the banks with the lowest NPL rates, at 0.01 percent, 0.04 percent, and 0.35 percent, respectively.
In summary, the half-year results show that alongside the increase in lending volume, strengthening control over debt quality is required. Especially in state-participating banks, the high rate of growth of non-performing loans requires improving risk management mechanisms, credit assessment, and borrower engagement. Nevertheless, the successful experience of some banks in revitalizing their credit portfolios demonstrates the existence of effective approaches in this area.
Hosiyat Abduqahhorova Abdurasul qizi is defending her dissertation to obtain the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in philology.
This dissertation was written on the topic 'Interpretation of historical terms in the annotated dictionary of the Uzbek language'. This work is considered under the specialty 10.00.01 – Uzbek language.
The dissertation defense will take place at the meeting of the Scientific Council for awarding academic degrees, number PhD.03/2025.27.12.Fil.12.04, held at Termiz State University on July 27, 2026, at 10:00 AM. The defense venue is Termiz State University, 43 Barkamol Avlod Street, Termiz city, 190111.
