“The panic over a possible shortage of food due to coronavirus is unreasonable. There are no restrictions on imported products,” said Behzod Musayev, Chairman of the State Tax Committee.
In order to get answers to a number of questions that arose because of the coronavirus infection cases in Uzbekistan, Kun.uz correspondent talked to Behzod Musayev, the chairman of the State Tax Committee.
“It is panic that causes the price increase. The fear that products may end tomorrow makes people buy essential goods and products for six months in advance, or sometimes even for a year, and leads to a decrease in the amount of goods on the market. Under such circumstances prices will, naturally, go up,” says Behzod Musayev.
He said that he spoke with the leaders of the two largest retail chains.
“After meeting with the Prime Minister, I personally talked to the heads of the 2 largest retail shop networks, Korzinka and Makro. In fact, they reported an increase in the number of customers; people want to buy everything (rice, fruits and vegetables, meat).
However, we can say for sure that tomorrow these people will be able to go to the market. No market in the country will be closed. They will continue to operate as usual.
First of all, our markets have enough products. This is known all over the world. In average, 5 liters of oil is enough for a family for 3 months. But what is the point of buying five times more of this amount?
Both retail shop managers said they have a sufficient supply of products. As the products are being sold, they are filling the store shelves again. They said that they expect no problems,” the head of the Tax Committee emphasized.
Behzod Musayev added that the import of products would not stop.
“The head of the Korzinka retail chain raised the issue that some types of products are imported from Russia, Kazakhstan, and the Western countries, so he asked if there would be restrictions. I can say that no restrictions will be imposed on the import of products.
In this regard, we talked with the chairperson of the State Customs Committee. The SCC has control even over remote border posts. According to the SCC head, there are no cases of time delays due to traffic jams or sanitary control of any foodstuffs arriving in Uzbekistan,” Behzod Musayev noted.
