In response to the question about which enterprises in Uzbekistan should be privatized and the privileges given to them should be canceled, Ulugbek Fayozov, head of the Anti-Monopoly Committee department, simply said that it is necessary to privatize enterprises that are “interested in business”.
The topic of entrepreneurship development was discussed in the next episode of the “Munosabat” talk show on “Uzbekistan” TV.
During the show, the presenter Kuddus Azam asked Ulugbek Fayozov, head of the Anti-Monopoly Committee department, with the following question:
“Great offers should also be made. For example, as a representative of the committee, you have your own opinion, there are plans, which enterprises should be privatized in your opinion, which privileges and preferences given to them should be canceled, and there should be competition there as well?”
The representative of the antimonopoly body did not give a clear answer to the question, but spoke about other aspects of the issue - the privatized sectors should be interesting for business and the issue of personnel.
“First of all, the most important task is to transfer state-owned enterprises that are interested in the private sector to the private sector. Because many obstacles in production by the state mechanism are not removed on time.
Perhaps you have expressed the right opinion about the potential of personnel. Only after a narrow circle of specialists are involved in this field, business representatives can also confirm that it is an interesting business. Measures to transfer the sectors that are interesting to the business to the private sector will be considered. It can be more than 25,” Ulugbek Fayozov said.
According to the 2022 state program, it is planned to end monopolies in more than 25 types of activities by 2026. Of these:
ꞏ in 2022 – 14, including certification services;
ꞏ in 2023-2025, monopolies will be abolished in 11 activities, including storage of oil products, provision of additional services in railway transportation, management services of airport and pre-station complexes, and forwarding services on railways.
The list of more than 25 types of activities for which monopolies will be abolished within five years is not yet fully known. It is not known whether the monopoly of state-owned enterprises such as UzAuto Motors and Uzbekistan Airways, which cause the most objections among the population, will be included in this list.
Based on the decree of April 9, 2022, a list of 14 industries to be removed from monopoly by attracting the private sector and canceling exclusive rights was approved:
ꞏ supply of liquefied gas to the population and social sector facilities;
ꞏ storage of oil products;
ꞏ issuing a certificate of origin of goods;
ꞏ centralized procurement of electrical equipment and devices;
ꞏ services on compulsory state insurance of tax authorities’ employees;
ꞏ single-source delivery of agricultural and automotive tires;
ꞏ providing auxiliary services in railway transport;
ꞏ medical examination of drivers and driver candidates;
ꞏ comparison of measuring instruments;
ꞏ certification of cotton products, agricultural seeds;
ꞏ collection and processing of used technical oils;
ꞏ drawing up master plans of villages, farms and urban settlements in rural areas;
ꞏ services on state compulsory personal insurance of military service persons.
According to the state register of business entities that have a dominant position in the commodity or financial market, 92 monopoly enterprises dominate 104 monopolized commodity markets in Uzbekistan. Almost all of them are state-owned enterprises.
