On 22 October this year, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed Law No. LRU-980 ‘On introducing amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with improving the sphere of state property management’.

The law introduced a number of amendments and additions to 1 code and 10 laws:

• The Law On Pledge stipulates that state property not subject to privatisation, as well as state property assigned to a state organisation during the transformation of a state organisation into a business entity, may not be pledged;
• Article 8 of the Criminal Code redefined the term ‘organisation with state participation’;
• The Law ‘On Appraisal Activity’ provides that appraisal is not required when a state-owned organisation is transformed into a business entity;
• when privatising state shares in limited liability companies, a system of sale through public tenders on the basis of competition is introduced;
• The Law ‘On Sponsorship’ is amended and it is noted that annual sponsorship expenses of economic companies with the state's share in the authorised fund (charter capital) exceeding 50 percent should not exceed 3 percent of the net profit received in the previous year;
• In the Law ‘On the Securities Market’ the words ‘state depository’  were replaced by the words ‘organisation’  in connection with the fact that the state unitary enterprise ‘Central Securities Depository’  was reorganised into a joint-stock company. It is also established that the amounts of tariffs for depository services are approved by the management bodies of the company upon agreement with the authorised body;
• In the Laws ‘On State Duty’  and ‘On State Property Management’, the words ‘Centre for Organising the Efficient Use of Empty Facilities’ have been replaced by the words ‘Centre for the Efficient Use of State Property Facilities’;
• The Law on State Property Management stipulates that UzSAMA coordinates the effective dividend policy at enterprises with state participation.

This Law is intended to improve the management of state property, expand private ownership by defining the powers and priorities of a specially authorised body, and make privatisation processes open and transparent.

For information, this Law was adopted by the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis on 16 July 2024 and approved by the Senate on 21 September 2024 and will enter into force from the date of its official announcement.