Uzbekistan to Change Rules for Preparing Land for Auctions

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan is introducing a new procedure for preparing land plots for sale at auctions. Plots will be provided in advance with technical conditions for connection to engineering networks and construction permits, allowing investors to receive sites as a “ready-made package.”

The new mechanism is stipulated by a presidential decree dated 28 August aimed at reducing the state’s involvement in the economy and accelerating privatization processes.

Land plots proposed by local architectural and urban planning councils will be prepared before being put up for auction. The related costs may be financed from local budgets. The expenses incurred will subsequently be included in the starting price of the plot when it is sold through an auction.

Master plans will also be developed and approved in advance for territories where land plots are to be sold. Specific plots intended to be transferred to investors will then be formed on the basis of these plans.

The decree also establishes a new procedure for registering land under state real estate subject to privatization. If an investor purchases a state-owned property, the right to the land plot associated with it will remain with the buyer until the land itself is privatized. The lease right for such a plot will not need to be registered again.

Separate rules apply to vacant non-agricultural land that cannot be sold at auction for more than three months. The right to such a plot may be contributed to the charter capital of a business entity established with the participation of an investor. The condition will be implementation of the declared investment project.

Subsequently, the state’s stake in the company may be offered to the investor for purchase.

New privatization opportunities will also be available to participants in Tashkent’s industrial zones. Companies that have fully fulfilled their investment and social obligations will be able, in accordance with established procedures, to privatize the land plots they occupy, as well as the buildings and structures located on them.

State-owned banks have been instructed to more actively involve state assets and land plots put up for sale in business projects. A “project factory” mechanism will be used for this purpose, under which banks will help prepare and promote business proposals involving such assets among potential investors.

The measures are part of an expanded privatization program. Under the program, the authorities plan to put around 8,000 hectares of land plots intended for business and urban development purposes up for auction.