Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Russian hotel chain Azimut Hotels is set to open its first five-star hotel in Central Asia by taking over the management of the International Tashkent Hotel, located in the capital of Uzbekistan, Vedomosti newspaper reports, citing a company representative.

According to the publication, the International Tashkent Hotel was commissioned in 1997 and became the first hotel in the country to be awarded a five-star rating. Until 2012, it was operated under the international InterContinental brand, and in spring 2024, it was acquired by Uzbek company Smart Fast Stroy for $26 million.

The hotel will be renamed Azimut Grand Hotel Tashkent, marking Azimut Hotels’ debut in the high-end hospitality segment in the region. It will also become the chain’s second property in Uzbekistan. In 2024, Azimut opened a four-star hotel in Tashkent — the Azimut Hotel Tashkent, formerly known as "Moderno Tashkent."

In May of this year, Azimut Hotels told the Russian news agency TASS that it plans to launch 15 new hotels in 2025 across Russia and several countries in Asia and the Middle East. The company confirmed that a new hotel in Uzbekistan is among the planned openings, signaling an expansion of its footprint in the region’s hospitality market.