Uzbekistan becomes one of the major drone importers from Russia

Over the past five years, Russia has exported drones worth up to 600 million rubles, or $8.1 million (at the exchange rate at the end of 2022), TASS reported with reference to official documents.

This is about a strategy for the development of civil unmanned aviation until 2030, as well as for the future until 2035. It was approved by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on June 28.

According to the document, the main importer of UAVs from Russia in 2018-2022 was Sudan – it accounted for 62% of exports. The second place was taken by Venezuela with 12%, Uzbekistan closed the top three with 9%.

In the baseline scenario for the review period, the UAV market is expected to expand by 14% annually, with a peak growth in 2025-2027. The government has estimated the potential volume of the Russian drone market by 2035 at approximately 1 million units.

Of these, depending on the scenario, 80-85% (800-850 thousand) will be locally produced devices. By 2030, it is planned to develop a system for certification of drones and their identification, and by 2035, a system for information and infrastructure protection of air transport.

The import of drones into Uzbekistan by individuals has been banned since 2015, except in special cases. The customs committee has repeatedly reported the detention of passengers who tried to import drones. In 2020, a petition was published to review the ban, but the initiative did not move forward.

The state program for 2023 provides for mitigation of punishment for the import of drones and components for them without permission. Criminal liability for the first such violation is planned to be replaced by administrative one.

Legal entities can import and use drones for their own purposes with a special permit. Now this right is mainly used by the agricultural sector – in particular, members of the association of licorice producers are endowed with such a right.

In May 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture received the right to use drones and satellite data to monitor the irrigation system and water resources. Since November, the Cabinet of Ministers has also allowed the use of drones of the Ministry of Tourism (now the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) and the directorate of the “Charvak” tourist zone.