Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 5 October 2020, a meeting of the Senate Committee on Budget and Economic Reforms was held in the Antimonopoly Committee in the form of videoconferencing. During the meeting, the implementation of the Law "On Competition" was discussed by the joint-stock companies "Uzbekistan Airways" and "Uzbekistan Airports", "Uzbekiston Temir Yollari" and "Uzmetkombinat".

The meeting was attended by members of the Senate, representatives of relevant ministries and departments, as well as media workers.

During the meeting, attention was focused on the implementation of the Law "On Competition" in JSC "Uzbekiston Temir Yollari ".

It was noted that there are a number of factors that negatively affect the state of increasing competitiveness and the development of a competitive environment in the railway sector.

It was emphasized that due to the lack of competition in the domestic market, Uzbekiston Temir Yollari is not interested in improving the quality of services and applying a flexible tariff policy.

The presence of non-specialized assets in O’zbekiston Temir Yollari limits the possibility of attracting large volumes of financing required for the implementation of projects for the development of the railway industry.

At the same time, the "Uzbekiston Temir Yollari " today has a weak system for the use of digital products, which creates a lot of convenience for customers.

Another feature. The inventory park of JSC "Uzbekiston Temir Yollari " has a high level of wear, there is a shortage of cars. More than 80% of the existing wagons are over 30 years old.

In addition, the system of JSC "Uzbek Railways" uses various forms of restricting competition. In particular, the company has entered into direct contracts with only 4 forwarding organizations. The activities of other forwarders are organized only through these organizations, which creates inequality for participants in the markets for goods, finance and services.

As a result of excessive regulation of access to railway stations in the system of rendering public services to the population, strengthening of bureaucratic principles, international practice is not applied, which makes it possible to use to a high degree the possibilities of self-provision of railway stations.

In addition, by order of the relevant departments of the Antimonopoly Committee, the international airports of the Uzbekistan Airports system were entered into the state register as a subject of natural monopolies for the provision of services in this direction.

On the basis of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 27 November 2018 "On measures to radically improve the civil aviation of the Republic of Uzbekistan" on the basis of the Directorate of the "Uzbekistan Airways", "Uzbekistan Airways" was created. In addition, 14 state unitary enterprises that are part of the Uzbekiston Havo Yollari NJSC were transformed into limited liability companies and the Uzbekistan Airports was formed.

During the meeting, it was noted that the analysis identified a number of factors that negatively affect the competitiveness of air transport in the domestic and foreign markets. In particular, Uzbekistan Airports JSC, as the only national company performing regional and international flights in the absence of competition, is not interested in improving the efficiency of the company.

Since 2010, the number of the company’s flights has increased by only 15%. The small number of airborne equipment limits the possibility of developing new routes, increasing the number of flights and increasing the efficiency of the company.

At the same time, the complex system of choosing the flight class negatively affects the awareness of consumers about the important conditions of the purchased services.

In addition, the development of cargo transportation in the system of Uzbekistan Airways is not considered as an additional source of income. The share of freight traffic in the total volume of services provided is 0.03%, which is significantly lower than the global indicator of 35% and indicates an insufficient use of the potential of freight transportation.

Insufficient equipment of airports with modern specialized equipment also leads to the fact that the level of provision of services for reception and technical assistance is low. As a result, airports are less attractive as partners.

The meeting also focused on the state of implementation of the Law "On Competition" by the joint stock company "Uzmetkombinat".

It was noted that "Uzmetkombinat" in 1994 was included in the state register of economic entities occupying a dominant position in the commodity or financial market for the production of steel products for grinding, and in 2020 - for the provision of services for the processing (purchase) of scrap and ferrous waste. metals.

In accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers "On measures to improve the management efficiency of Uzmetkombinat JSC" from 20 July 2017, a foreign company SFI Management Group LLC was involved in the trust management of the state share in the authorized capital of Uzmetkombinat JSC.

On the basis of this resolution, JSC "Uzmetkombinat" is the only authorized body for the production (purchase) of scrap and waste of ferrous metals in the country, and the scrap collected in the country should be handed over only to the plant.

At the same time, although more than 1200 business entities operate on the market for the production of metal products from ferrous metals, using imported scrap metal and other metal products, annually the material balance of the raw material base for the production and sale of metal products is compiled without taking into account the needs of other metal foundries.

At the same time, scrap metal is accepted only by the Ikkilamchikorametallar subdivisions of the Uzmetkombinat system. Due to the low purchase price of scrap and waste of ferrous metals, entrepreneurs and the population are not interested in selling them at prices offered by Uzmetkombinat JSC.

In addition, the ban on the import of analogues of goods produced by Uzmetkombinat JSC from 1 June to the end of the year in accordance with the protocol of the Republican Anti-Crisis Commission from 13 May 2020 No. 06 / 1-783 also has a negative impact on the competitive environment.

As a result, the MODERN METALL Ltd. group of companies, which has been manufacturing metal products used in construction for 8 years, may stop production and about 700 jobs will be lost.

The individual privileges and preferences available to Uzmetkombinat create unequal conditions for other market participants.

The presence in "Uzmetkombinat" in a large amount of non-core assets also leads to the wrong direction of financial resources and time resources.

The corresponding decision of the Senate Committee was adopted on the considered issues.