The key facts
- Mirziyoyev instructed the National Bank to prepare financing calculations for the expansion of the Sulton Tex Group cluster within a month
- A new fabric production and dyeing factory worth $54 million created 840 jobs; projects worth another $87 million were announced
- In 2020, the company sued officials after being excluded from the cluster list and claimed damages of 10.7 billion soums
Presidential Order and Expansion Plans
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, during a visit to the Sulton Tex Group factory in the Kashkadarya free economic zone on October 21, instructed the National Bank to work out the issue of financing the expansion of the textile cluster. Details of his conversation with the company's head Nurbek Ergashev were heard in the Akhborot 24 program. The president proposed developing the cluster as a large holding-type company: “We will turn it into a big company similar to a holding. I will give an instruction to the National Bank. Now do the calculations. Within a month we will make a decision and determine how many millions will be needed.” The head of state did not specify the exact amount of financing, its terms, or sources. According to Mirziyoyev, the enterprise, which currently employs about 8,000 people, could become one of the region's major industrial projects: “Why do I call this project social? Because it provides jobs for so many people. To make it a driver project of Kashkadarya, a decision of the Cabinet of Ministers is needed. We will create conditions to double its capacity.”
Employment and Export Targets
According to the president's statement, Nurbek Ergashev promised to increase the number of jobs to 30,000 by 2030, and the entrepreneur himself expects to eventually bring product exports to $150 million. At a meeting with investors, Mirziyoyev noted: “Every time I came, he strove for something new, raised issues and made great efforts. He created 8,000 jobs. Salaries are paid on time.” On October 22, at a meeting on the development of Kashkadarya region, the president's press service already reported an intention to provide jobs for another 30,000 people by 2028, including by expanding employment of women. The president also announced the signing of a decree awarding Ergashev the honorary title “Honored Entrepreneur of Uzbekistan.” We note a discrepancy in the deadlines: in the first case the target is set for 2030, in the second — for 2028.
New Factory and $87 Million in Investments
During the visit, the president familiarized himself with Sulton Tex Group's new fabric production and dyeing factory in the Kashkadarya SEZ. The project cost $54 million: on an area of 12 hectares there are facilities for producing and dyeing 20,000 tons of fabric per year, with 840 jobs created. According to the president's press service, a closed water circulation system worth $3 million allows purifying and reusing more than 95% of water, saving 1.1 million cubic meters annually; Mirziyoyev instructed to spread this experience to other textile enterprises in the country. For uninterrupted power supply, a gas generator has been installed, and solar panels on the roof and walls of the building have a total capacity of 3.5 MW. A company representative said the investment in the panels amounted to 24 billion soums, annual savings are about 10.4 billion soums, and the payback period is two years and two months. The president's press service also reported the company's plans to implement a new project in the SEZ worth $70 million with the creation of 3,570 jobs, and to invest another $17 million in projects in other districts of the region that will provide employment for 1,220 people.
History of the Company's Development
Sulton Tex Group is a textile company from Kashkadarya region engaged in growing and processing cotton, producing yarn, fabrics and finished clothing. In December 2018, Mirziyoyev familiarized himself with the second stage of production in Karshi: the enterprise, equipped with machinery from Switzerland and Japan, employed about 300 people; in less than a year it exported products worth $12 million to Poland, Turkey, Iran, Egypt and other countries, and supplied goods worth 50 billion soums to the domestic market. At that time, facilities for producing 3,000 tons of knitted fabric per year were launched. In October 2023, the president visited the cluster's sewing enterprise, built for $8.2 million, with a capacity of 5 million units of clothing per year and exports to the USA, Canada, Poland, Singapore and Russia; at that time about 3,000 people worked in the entire production chain. In May 2025, the company began construction of a sewing and knitting factory worth $7 million in the Mirishkor district with 500 permanent jobs.
Court Conflict with the Authorities
Earlier, the company litigated with the Kashkadarya authorities over the termination of its activities as a cotton-textile cluster. In 2020, Nurbek Ergashev went to court against former Deputy Prime Minister Uktam Barnoev, former Minister of Agriculture Jamshid Khodjaev (now Deputy Prime Minister) and other officials, arguing that the decision to exclude the company from the cluster list was unfounded. In June 2020, the Karshi district administrative court partially granted the claim, finding some actions of local authorities unlawful, but later the company lost the appeal process. In August 2020, Ergashev stated that the enterprise had suffered damage of 10.7 billion soums and 490 employees had lost their jobs. Jamshid Khodjaev acknowledged that there is still no regulatory framework defining the rights and obligations of participants in the cluster form of production; according to the publication, six years later the legislative framework has still not been created.
