Uzbekfilm Repays More Than 1 Billion Soums in Tax Debt

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekfilm has fully repaid tax debt totaling more than 1 billion soums. The company has also had 12 vehicles returned to its possession that had previously been scheduled for auction because of the debt.

Jakhongir Akhmedov, First Deputy Minister of Culture and Director of the Cinema Agency, announced the development on his Telegram channel.

The studio’s next priority is to settle its outstanding obligations to employees. According to Akhmedov, wage arrears exceed 3 billion soums. He assured that the obligations to employees will also be repaid.

At the same time, Uzbekfilm’s largest financial problem remains a €22 million credit obligation. The Cinema Agency, together with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is working to release the film studio and its 10-hectare land plot from collateral and resolve the outstanding loan debt.

Earlier, Akhmedov estimated Uzbekfilm’s credit obligation at €22.9 million and said the studio’s assets, including land plots, were pledged as collateral. He identified preserving the studio and resolving the collateral issue among its key current priorities.

At the same time, Uzbekfilm faces the task of transitioning to a more sustainable financial model. According to Akhmedov, the studio must fulfill orders worth at least 60 billion soums annually to sustain itself independently.

The studio remains dependent on government orders and, as the head of the Cinema Agency noted, does not yet have a fully developed business model or fully established market mechanisms for its operations.

Akhmedov believes further efforts should involve not only preserving Uzbekfilm but also carrying out a deep reform of the studio.

In the long term, the studio is expected to become a financially sustainable national film company with a modern management system capable of attracting private investment, developing international ties and independently producing films.

“Uzbekfilm should be a symbol not of crisis, but of national cinema,” Akhmedov emphasized.