Powering Productivity: How GEFF II Helped an Uzbek Carpet Company Innovate

Navoiy Ishonch Gilamlari LLC JV, established in 2003 in the Navoiy region, is a well-known carpet manufacturer employing 295 people and generating an annual turnover of approximately UZS 100 billion. The сompany uses four primary fibers to produce carpets: wool, nylon, polypropylene and wool blends. No cotton is used in the carpet production processes.

With a strong market demand for their products, the company decided to expand its production capabilities by investing in a new, high-performance double-rapier weaving machine, the Carpet Rug Pioneer CRT.

Before this investment, the company operated equipment that consumed 1,130,880 kWh of electricity annually to produce 580,000 m² of carpet. The purchase of the Carpet Rug Pioneer CRT, financed through a GEFF loan from Joint-stock commercial mortgage bank Ipoteka-Bank, enabled the company to nearly double its production capacity to 1,120,000 m² of carpets per year. The new machine, with advanced features that improve productivity and reduce maintenance costs, consumes 595,200 kWh annually, significantly lowering the specific energy consumption per square meter from 1.950 to 1.541 kWh.

This modernization led to annual energy savings of 5,885 GJ and a reduction in CO2 emissions by 243 tonnes, contributing to a more sustainable operation.

Financially, the project proved highly viable with a payback period of just 1.4 years and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 71.6%. The investment not only enhanced the company’s production efficiency but also boosted its revenue by an additional USD 324,000 per year due to increased production.

The Green Economy Financing Facility in Uzbekistan (GEFF II in Uzbekistan), which supported this investment, was developed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and is backed by Canada through the EBRD’s High-Impact Partnership on Climate Action, the Climate Investment Funds, and the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund.