BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 21
By Fakhri Vakilov-Trend:
Uzbekistan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed a loan agreement worth $246.1 million for three projects, Trend reports citing the press service of Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade.
The document was signed following an interim session of the Presidential Council of Foreign Investors, which was held in Tashkent.
Of the allocated funds, $96.1 million will be provided for the construction of a 220 kW line with a size of 500 kW and a length of 177 km from Navoi Thermal Power Station to the 220 kW switching point Besopan.
Moreover, $90 million will be allocated for the reconstruction and construction of sewage systems in the cities of Urgench, Khiva and Pitnak (Khorezm region), and $60 million for the city of Karshi (Kashkadarya region).
The Council, which was created in Nov. 2019, is composed of leaders and representatives of foreign companies, banks, international financial institutions and foreign government financial organizations, including EBRD.
At the session of the Presidential Council of Foreign Investors, the Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov called on the Council of Foreign Investors to focus on three issues.
These include the reform of the banking and financial sector, the acceleration of the privatization of state property and the introduction of objective methods for valuing assets.
“At this stage of economic transformation, this will significantly increase the investment attractiveness of Uzbekistan, ensure additional investment volumes, and generally improve the country's economic growth indicators,” the minister said.
Within the framework of the event, a number of constructive proposals were put forward and considered, the press service reported. In particular, it was proposed to introduce the definition of “holding company” in the Uzbek legislation, the concept of “through taxation”, various classes of shares and other common corporate law concepts in the world, and provide investors with greater flexibility in determining corporate policy.
A unified vision was developed on the prospects of accelerated privatization of commercial banks by implementing their controlling stakes in interested investors, as well as optimizing the current activities of banks in Uzbekistan by digitalizing the banking system and introducing advanced products and practices.
The need to develop a legal framework for the creation and conduct of activities of branches of foreign commercial organizations and a unified electronic registry that reflects complete information about business entities and allows a retrospective analysis of the activities of each company from the moment of its creation was noted as well. Leading international consulting companies have shown interest in actively working on the proposed initiatives.
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