Uzbekistan, Tashkent, April 24 / Trend D. Azizov /
According to Uzbek President Islam Karimov's decree, several tax and customs privileges for "Samarkand Automobile Factory" were extended till January 1, 2017.
According to the decree on "Additional measures to further develop the vehicle production at Samarkand automobile plant", the enterprise will be exempt from paying income tax, property tax, VAT, land tax and customs duties when importing goods and equipment not produced in the country, for five years.
For the first time these benefits have been given to Samarkand Automobile Factory since January 1, 2007 for five years.
The decision on benefit extension was taken to support the program of the enterprise to reduce production costs and increase its competitiveness in the domestic market, the preamble of the document said.
It is planned to reduce the cost of production at the plant by 9.7 billion soums, or an average of 4.9 percent annually, through energy savings by 0.02 percent, valuating the costs and optimization of the acquired raw materials - by 3.25 percent, reducing operational costs - by 0.48 percent, other costs - 1.1 percent within the program in the medium term prospect.
According to the document, the funds saved as a result of reducing the production cost are available for the companies. They use them in their sole discretion.
SamAvto was established in November 2006 on the basis of the Uzbek-Turkish joint venture "SamKochavto", declared bankrupt. Currently, shareholders of SamAvto are Uzavtoprom (66 percent), Uzbek Asaka Bank (26 percent) and Japan's Itochu, which owns the rights to the brand Isuzu (8 percent).
In January 2007, "SamAuto" started to assemble cars of Japanese Isuzu Motors. The company produces passenger buses with a capacity of 37 people, suburban - 22 seats.
According to the production development program, the enterprise planned to reach full capacity - up to 4,000 different cars a year in 2010.
As of 2011, the enterprise assembled about 2,000 vehicles, including 800 buses, which corresponds to 2010.