BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 23
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
The Uzbek government has exempted imported building materials from customs duties, Trend reports citing the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan.
A presidential decree on measures to accelerate the construction of multi-storey buildings in the country's regions has been adopted.
Under the decree, the following are exempt from customs duties (except for value added tax and customs clearance fees):
- Import of new construction and special equipment and vehicles for the transportation of goods (27 types) until 1 January 2021;
- During the period from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023, imported concrete casting molds, machines and mechanisms for preparing concrete for the construction of multi-storey monolithic apartment buildings on the list formed in accordance with the established procedure.
Payers of customs taxes in the period from July 1, 2020 through July 1, 2023 have the right to defer up to 120 days or installments of customs payments (except for value added tax and customs clearance fees) on imported machines or those used in the construction industry, technological equipment, means of small mechanization, devices, spare parts and components.
Import of construction materials to Uzbekistan decreased by 20.1 percent, in the period from January to April 2020, compared to the same period of 2019.
During the COVID-19 quarantine regime, the volume of production of building materials in the country decreased by 30-40 percent. In turn, the sales of raw materials have decreased.
The Government of Uzbekistan set a task for Ozsanoatqurilishmateriallari Joint Stock Company (Uzbek major producer of construction materials) to bring the production to 10 trillion soum ($984.9 million) in the first half of the year, and 22 trillion soum ($2.1 billion) by the end of the year. It was entrusted to expand production to substitute import of construction materials.
Uzbekistan has 275 promising deposits of necessary raw materials, and 14 projects worth $52 million are being implemented in Gazgan settlement of Nurata district.
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