The total external debt of Uzbekistan at the end of 2020 amounted to $ 33.8 billion follows from the data of the Central Bank (over 58% of the country's GDP). The regulator explains this by attracting new debts to mitigate the crisis caused by the pandemic, financing state programs for the development of economic sectors and regions. Foreign investment is also seen as a possible tool for reducing total external debt, especially given the government's ambitious plans to attract 7.5 billion foreign direct investment. In the same time, the cost of servicing the debt to creditors will be covered by funds that will come from state-owned enterprises as a result of financing investment projects, the local Ministry of Finance said.

It is true that Uzbekistan has developed rapidly in recent years as an important geographical and logistical hub. Under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemics, Uzbekistan's GDP in 2020 still increased by 1.6% compared with the previous year, becoming one of the few countries in the world with positive economic growth that year. On the one hand, this benefited from good epidemic control measures, on the other hand, because of economic reforms, the country's construction industry and agriculture grew rapidly.

After taking office in 2016, Uzbekistan President Mirziyoyev put forward five major strategic policies: promoting the modernization of national governance, modernizing economic development, reforming the judicial system, increasing people's livelihood protection, and implementing a peaceful and constructive foreign policy. Among them, a series of measures and reforms have been carried out in this field of economy, such as abolishing foreign exchange control, strengthening cooperation with international financial institutions, creating innovative development departments, actively connecting with international standards, reducing tax burdens, and introducing foreign investment preferences. These have greatly promoted the local economic development.

A series of top meetings with Turkish, Russian and other countries' leaders were held over the last year, promoting Uzbekistan as a potentially attractive region for large investors from different countries. But as billions of Foreign Direct Investment keep rolling into Tashkent there is trouble brewing under the surface as the corruption mires the process, actualizing the threat of the tide of foreign investment receding.

Although the president is confident, often due to insufficient supervision, relatively low administrative discipline and weak execution, the matters that need to be executed are not fulfilled. When visiting Uzbekistan in 2019, IMF Chairman Christine Lagarde said: "If corruption becomes institutionalized, it will stifle a country's ability to attract investors and create jobs." Uzbekistan is in urgent need to strengthen the anti-corruption work and improve public administration.

The current corruption phenomenon has also led to the fact that energy companies in various countries that have invested in Uzbekistan have to cancel these funds in their annual reports because they cannot get investment returns. One of the most high-profile examples is Uzbekistan's state-owned oil and gas company. The company owed PetroChina more than US$16 million in service fees and equipment supply costs in 2019. Uzbekistan's current Minister of Energy and former chairman of the company's board of directors, Alisher Sultanov, responded to this by asking PetroChina to prove the existence of the debt in court. In addition, the Uzbek gas and chemical joint venture also owes its South Korean investors-Samsung and Lotte-more than $300 million. This sum may turn into a loss for the two companies. In the second quarter of 2020, the Russian Lukoil Company confirmed a loss of 39 billion rubles in the impairment of assets in the field of foreign exploration and exploitation. The loss mainly came from its branch in Uzbekistan.

Another example is Canadian SkyPower Global. It's head, Kerry Adler, intending to invest $1,3 billion in solar energy in Uzbekistan, had to turn to Shavkat Mirziyoyev. According to Adler, two years after the conclusion of the contract, the authorities still have not provided guarantees for the purchase of energy. The company asks Uzbekistan to fulfill its obligations, even if more attractive offers have appeared . Founder and CEO of SkyPower Global also noted that the Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan, despite the instruction of the president in 2018, still has not provided a guarantee for the fulfillment of obligations in terms of payment for the supplied electricity, which was supposed to be 6 cents per 1 kWh.

Kerry Adler also warned that SkyPower can go to the court: "If we take action, the deal could be worth $ 1.8 billion. Uzbekistan is a member of the Energy Charter. We can file a complaint with a court in The Hague. It will be easy to prove that the terms of the agreement are not being met", - noted the top-manager. There were no further developments of the situation in public since 2020.

Often such one or two black sheep will make everyone have a ripple effect and lose confidence in the country's investment projects. If the situation continues, most potential investors may be lost. While holding more investment forums to attract foreign investment, it is also necessary to speed up the implementation and optimize the foreign direct investment environment in order to restore hope for investment projects in the energy sector in Uzbekistan. This also shows that investment has certain risks. When making direct investment in Uzbekistan and even other unfamiliar regions, not only must the investment environment of the country be studied and analyzed, but also partners must be carefully selected to minimize risks.