Baku, Azerbaijan, February 15
By Fakhri Vakilov-Trend:
Uzbekistan increased the import of vegetable oil in physical terms in 2018 by 42.1 percent to 175,400 tons compared to 2017, Trend reports with reference to Nuz.uz newspaper.
In monetary terms, imports increased by 19.3 percent to $147.4 million.
The largest volume fell on the import of sunflower oil, which increased by the end of last year in physical volume by 41 percent to 140,900 tons, in value terms - by 31.2 percent to $119.9 million. In its turn, soybean oil - by 57.7 percent to 25,700 tons and by 42.4 percent to $18.8 million, respectively.
Imports of cottonseed oil increased by 72.7 percent in physical terms to 5,700 tons and in cash - by 75.8 percent to $5.1 million.
As for coconut oil, the increase in natural terms was 13.4 percent to 2,800 tons, while in money imports decreased by 11.6 percent to $2.9 million, olive oil increased twice by 29.4 percent to 255 tons and by 29.4 percent to 616,100 tons.
In January 2019, Uzbekistan established the Uzegmoisanoat oil and fat products association, whose members are exempted from paying customs duties on oilseed imports and VAT until January 1, 2021 in terms of volumes produced on their basis.
Furthermore, until 2022, members of the Uzegmoisanoat association receive a deferment of VAT for a period of 90 days from the date of customs declaration upon import of equipment and other auxiliary materials necessary for the production of oil and fat that are not produced in Uzbekistan.
Tax benefits and preferences are granted to the association itself. In particular, it is exempt from the taxes on property and profits of legal entities and deductions from organizations under contracts to Uzegmoysanoat are excluded from the taxable base for income tax on legal entities.
Nowadays, 25 oil and fat industry enterprises with a total design capacity of over 2.5 million tons of vegetable oil, margarine, mayonnaise and other products operate in Uzbekistan, although their workload in recent years do not exceed 50 percent.
---
Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri