01.07.2021

Under the chairmanship of the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on July 1, a videoconference was held to discuss the results of the ongoing work and further priorities in the field of privatization of state assets.

Privatization is one of the important economic measures that not only provides revenues to the budget, but also serves as the basis for new investment projects, job creation and value-added products. The availability of land, building and infrastructure is a prerequisite for the development of entrepreneurship.

Therefore, the privatization is defined as one of the key areas of the economic reforms. The work is underway to reduce the number of enterprises with a state share to at least 3 times this year and next. These changes are widely recognized by reputable experts and the world’s media.

On October 27, 2020, the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan «On measures for accelerated reform of enterprises with the participation of the state and privatization of state assets» was adopted. In the first half of this year, 478 state property sites were sold for 1 trillion and 100 billion Uzbek soums.

However, much remains to be done. In particular, of the 556 objects identified for sale, 288 have not yet been put to bids. In addition, 511 facilities that are at the disposal of enterprises and banks with the state share, but not part of their main activities, have not yet been sold.

The tasks of effectively organizing the privatization process, simplifying procedures for participating in auction sales and increasing access to them was discussed at the meeting.

It was noted that this year more than 900 state property will be put up for sales. The practice of selling state property at a starting price of «1 Uzbek soum», the sale of land with an investment commitments will be cancelled, the facilities will be put up for electronic auction sale at a market price.

In addition, the fee for participating in the online auction sale will be cancelled and the costs of entrepreneurs for electronic registration will be covered by the State Asset Management Agency. When purchasing a real estate at auction sale, the payment period will be extended from the current 5 days to 15 days.

A procedure will be introduced according to which the sale and rental of buildings and vehicles of organizations with a state share of more than 50% will be carried out only through an electronic auction sale.

The responsible persons were instructed to develop a draft decree addressing this new procedure.

The need to put up for sale 13 large real estate sites in Tashkent and 11 industry enterprises of state shares with the involvement of foreign consultants was emphasized.

Within a month, the khokims (governors and mayors) of regions, districts and cities were instructed to put up for sale 154 empty facilities under their responsibility.

The share of funds remaining at the disposal of the regions after the sale of property put up for auction by the Khokimiyats (governor’s and mayors’ offices) will be increased from 73% to 87%. These funds will be evenly distributed between the regional and district (city) budgets.

The Agency for the Management of State Assets is instructed to re-conduct with the participation of the state a complete inventory of non-core and empty facilities of enterprises and banks, as well as prepare them for privatization.

The proposals for financial recovery and modernization of inactive or unprofitable enterprises were discussed.