Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In recent days, a number of journalists, independent experts and bloggers have widely discussed in the media discrepancies in the open data of statistics bodies of Kazakhstan and Russia regarding the indicators of exports to these countries from the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, as an authorized state body responsible for the formation and coordination of a unified state policy in the field of foreign trade and international economic cooperation, reports the following in relation to the current situation:

1. The State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan has established an online exchange of information with the customs services of the main partner countries, in which the customs cargo declaration issued for export is available online in the customs service of the foreign state to which the goods are exported.

Currently, the State Customs Committee has established a full-fledged online exchange of information with the customs services of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, which makes it possible to prevent significant discrepancies in trade in goods.

2. According to the results of January-October of this year, exports from the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Republic of Kazakhstan amounted to US$951.4 million, of which the volume of exports of goods amounted to US$830 million, and services - US$121.4 million.

According to the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, imports from the Republic of Uzbekistan in January-October this year amounted to US$833 million.

It should be noted that the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan provides only data on the import of goods, which does not reflect information on the import of services. 

According to the results of January-September of this year, the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Russian Federation exported goods in the amount of US$1 billion 463 million, including goods in the amount of US$1 billion 209 million and services in the amount of US$254 million.

According to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, in January-September of this year, the volume of imports of goods from the Republic of Uzbekistan amounted to US$1 billion 170 million, excluding the volume of imported services.

As for the figures of foreign trade turnover, which caused discussions, here the data of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics reflect the aggregate volume of exports of goods and services.

In the statistical indicators of the partner countries (the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation), only the volume of goods is indicated. Consequently, the values of the differing numbers correspond to the volume of exports of services.

In the commentary of the State Statistics Committee on this issue, it is noted that small discrepancies in the export of goods can mainly occur in the following cases:

- differences in the foreign trade accounting system;

- differences in the specifics of assessing the customs value of the goods, that is, the value of the goods in the contract reduced to base prices at the time of crossing the customs border;

- differences in the time of accounting for goods. That is, the reason for the discrepancies in foreign trade will be related to time. For example, goods that left one country at the end of December are reflected in the customs statistics of the partner state at the date of import (for example, in January)

3. The overpaid amount of VAT resulting from the application of a “zero” percentage rate of VAT on export operations in the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be returned to the exporting enterprise in accordance with the established procedure.

Currently, VAT funds are refunded in case of submission to the State Tax Inspectorate of documents confirming the full receipt of foreign exchange funds for the goods sent for export.

Goods issued for export are not reflected as export if they do not cross the territory of the republic or are returned back. 

This measure is aimed at preventing illegal VAT refunds from the budget of the republic through falsified export operations.

At the same time, in accordance with the resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-5231 from 24 August 2021, in order to support exporters and create additional conditions for them, for disciplined taxpayers who timely provided foreign exchange receipts during the last year and have no overdue accounts receivable under export contracts, a VAT refund procedure has been introduced before the receipt of foreign exchange funds.

The Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade announces its constant readiness to cooperate with journalists, independent experts and bloggers in the preparation of relevant analytical materials and publication of articles on foreign trade operations and reforms carried out in order to support the activities of exporting enterprises.