Uzbekistan Airways (HY, Tashkent International) is among the state-owned enterprises the Uzbek government is prepared to privatize, the head of its investment department has told Reuters.

“What we see as a key sector which we believe we have to keep (in state control) is mainly gold mining and our main oil company,” Sandor Sagdullayev said in an interview in Jordan this week.

“We have one monopolistic air company, Uzbekistan Airways, but we are working closely with the World Bank to reform the sector so it (Uzbekistan Airways) is off the list of untouchable companies.”

Uzbekistan Airways currently operates nine A320ceo, five B757-200s, two B767-300(BCF)s, seven B767-300(ER)s, two B787-8s, and two Il-76TDs on scheduled flights to 56 destinations across Uzbekistan, Russia and the CIS, the Middle East, the United States, Western Europe, India, China, and the Far East.