BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 29
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
The volume of trade of Uzbek catering enterprises decreased by 32.6 percent in the period from January through May 2020, compared to the same period last year to 1.5 trillion soum ($146.7 million), Trend reports citing the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan.
At that, if trade turnover of large catering enterprises decreased only by three percent during the reporting period, the decline in sales of small enterprises reached 37.7 percent, and their share in the overall structure of the turnover of catering in the country decreased from 83.8 percent to 79.1 percent.
In addition, in seven regions, the sales of large catering outlets increased respectively in Karakalpakstan, which recorded the highest and most impressive growth, 36.2 times, and in Samarkand, Fergana, Khorezm, Tashkent, Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya provinces.
At the end of March 2020, by decision of the Special Republican Commission for the preparation of a programme of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Uzbekistan, activities to receive visitors from around 14,000 catering enterprises in the country were suspended. At the same time, they were able to deliver food.
From June 5, 2020, they were allowed to receive clients on condition that they were served outdoors (in the "green" and "yellow" zones, divided by the level of COVID-19 pandemic spread level).
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