On November 20, 2019, the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-4525 "On measures to further improve the business environment and advance the entrepreneurship support system in the country" (hereinafter referred to as the "Resolution") was published.

The Resolution was adopted with the aim of further improving the business environment, to provide even greater freedom of entrepreneurship, as well as ensuring the proper application of already adopted legislative Acts.

In particular, government bodies, as well as local government bodies (the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, khokimiats of regions, the city of Tashkent, districts and cities) have again been warned of their obligation to unconditionally comply with the requirements of Article 531 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated September 24, 2012, No. ZRU-336, "On the protection of private property and guarantees of the rights of owners".

According to the Resolution, attempts to revise or cancel the privatization results − including appraisal of assets by regulatory, law enforcement agencies and courts − should be regarded as a violation of the inviolability of private property, and such cases should not be accepted for consideration.

It should be pointed out that the principle of the impossibility of revising and cancelling the results of privatization is not a novelty in the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan; it was previously enshrined in the following regulatory legal Acts:

  • Article 24 (part three) of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated September 24, 2012, No. ZRU-336, "On the protection of private property and guarantee of owners' rights", states that it is forbidden to initiate questions about the revision and cancellation of the results of privatization, including the results of property valuations by the state, including regulatory, law enforcement agencies and the courts;
  • Clause 2 (paragraph three) of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated January 17, 2017, No. UP-4933, "On measures to further simplify procedures and accelerate the sale of state property assets for use of entrepreneurial purposes" establishes a prohibition on initiating questions about revising and cancelling the results of privatization, including the results of the assessment of the value of assets by the state, including regulatory, law enforcement agencies and the courts;
  • The prohibition on asset valuation is also reflected in Article 18 (Part 3) in the Law dated August 19, 1999, No. 811-I, "On valuation activity".

New investment opportunities are opening up in the republic, and foreign investors are being offered stock of shares in the chemical, oil and gas, engineering, banking and insurance sectors. To this end, the government is trying to simplify the privatization process and provide appropriate guarantees to would-be investors. Further information is available in our previous insights here and here.

Footnotes

1 The basis of the economy of Uzbekistan, aimed at the development of market relations, is property in its various forms. The state guarantees the freedom of economic activity, business and labor, taking into account the priority of consumer rights, equality and legal protection of all forms of ownership. Private property, along with other forms of ownership, is inviolable and protected by the state. The owner may be deprived of it only in cases and in the manner prescribed by law."

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