A series of legislative changes are set to take effect in Uzbekistan starting June 1. The legal portal Norma has compiled a summary of the most significant updates:
Business Incentives
The Trade Promotion Fund will begin reimbursing domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers for up to 50% of expenses incurred for foreign consulting services and certification compliance—specifically for EU GMP and US FDA GMP standards, as well as for obtaining WHO prequalification. This state subsidy is capped at a maximum of $50,000 per company.
Additionally, manufacturers of innovative local medicines and medical devices—developed by research institutes or educational establishments and not previously produced in Uzbekistan—will be eligible for an 80% reimbursement on registration costs, clinical trials, and bioequivalence studies. This financial relief will be granted after full-scale industrial production and market sales have commenced, up to a maximum limit of $8,000.
Pharmaceuticals & Public Procurement
In a regulatory exception, pharmaceutical and other manufacturing enterprises will be permitted to participate in state procurement tenders despite having outstanding tax liabilities or overdue fees, provided the debt does not exceed 2 times the Base Calculating Amount (BCA). If the tax debt exceeds this cap, companies can still participate as long as they apply within 10 days from the date the liability was originally incurred.
Sovereign Debt Management
Moving forward, every phase of public investment projects financed through external sovereign debt—from initial project design to final delivery—must be comprehensively logged and managed via the centralized "Control and Monitoring of Investment Project Implementation" information system.
Customs Duties
A new mechanism is being introduced to allow business entities to defer or pay customs duties in installments for up to 120 days. Furthermore, when using a general security method for customs payments, businesses may be granted a reduced security deposit amount based on evaluations from the national risk management system.
Elimination of Redundant Documentation
The requirement to obtain a domestic sanitary-epidemiological conclusion for imported food products is being abolished, provided the items were manufactured by enterprises holding certifications from recognized international systems (such as FSSC 22000, IFS Food, BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety, SQF Food Safety Code). Instead, the legal obligation to comply with all local sanitary norms, rules, and hygienic standards during the transit, storage, and retail distribution of the food products will be transferred directly to the importer.
Additionally, businesses will no longer be required to obtain a quarantine permit when placing goods under the "release for free circulation (import)" customs regime.
Anti-Corruption Measures
The government is deploying a standardized diagnostics system to assess the corruption resilience levels of public servants. This mandatory screening will target existing employees and job applicants within regulatory oversight inspectorates holding positions categorized as having a "high" or "medium" level of corruption risk.
If an employee receives a "low" corruption resilience score during this diagnostic assessment, it will serve as a legal barrier to their continued employment in that specific role. In such cases, the employee must undergo a mandatory rotation to an alternative position carrying a "low" corruption risk.
Construction Waste
A new framework will be introduced to regulate the reuse, recycling, or disposal of construction waste. Under these regulations:
- Corporate Accountability: Construction waste generated during the construction, reconstruction, repair, or demolition of buildings, structures, roads, and utility lines by a corporate client must be formally transferred via contract to specialized recycling enterprises or authorized waste landfills.
- Mandatory Planning: It is now compulsory during the design and budgeting phase of construction projects to calculate the precise volume of expected construction waste, identify its accumulation sites, and explicitly outline project workflows to handle it.
- Environmental Controls: To prevent construction waste from degrading air quality, clients must implement active measures to suppress dust and mitigate unpleasant odors, strictly adhering to current urban planning norms and construction regulations.
Archival Modernization
A Unified National Archival Information System will be launched, consolidating existing digital platforms currently used to provide archival services.
- Centralized Storage: All digitized archival materials, as well as documents slated for future digitization, must be integrated into this secure information system and stored permanently within it.
- Phased Digitalization Timeline: The conversion of archival documents will be rolled out in three distinct phases:
- Phase 1 (2025–2027): High-priority and unique historical documents, along with property and land deed archives.
- Phase 2 (2028–2029): Cinematic, photographic, audio, and scientific-technical archival records.
- Phase 3 (From 2030 onward): All remaining archival holdings within the National Archival Fund.
The Uzarchive Agency is officially authorized to hire independent specialists on a contractual basis to accelerate the scanning of National Archival Fund documents and manage their upload into the centralized database.
AI Software Procurement
Public procurement contracts for the implementation and technical support of information systems and software products powered by artificial intelligence may now be executed under the following conditions:
- Authorized Vendors: Contracts must be exclusively awarded to business entities enrolled in the official AI vendor registry, which is managed in accordance with protocols approved by the relevant government departments.
- Direct Contracting Allowance: Procurement projects with a cumulative contract value that does not exceed 2,500 times the Base Calculating Amount (BCA) may be processed via direct negotiation, bypassing standard competitive bidding.
New Utility Prices
Additionally, new retail tariffs for electricity and natural gas will take effect. While a tiered, consumption-based pricing system will remain in place for residential consumers, the base rate for electricity will be adjusted to 650 soums per kWh for up to 200 kWh per month. Similarly, the base price for natural gas within the established social consumption norm will be set at 1,100 soums per cubic meter.
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