Companies and enterprises with foreign investments in Uzbekistan have their permanent benefits with regard to taxes, customs duties, and other mandatory payments lifted as of June 1, 2006.

The government passed a special resolution to the effect that all benefits and privileges are to be limited in time now. Experts of the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Economic Contacts believe that it will return all companies with foreign investments operating in the republic "back into the law zone."

All joint ventures used to have their activities regulated by special government resolutions until now. Individual taxation systems existed for some of them, making these joint ventures practically tax-free. Preferences of this sort were mostly reserved for major investors like Newmont Mining or Nestle.

The resolution set up a special task group to handle the matter. It will suggest to the government the companies and enterprises to be granted certain benefits and preferences for a specified period. First and foremost, the matter concerns the joint ventures involved in the projects recognized by the local authorities as priorities - projects in the oil and gas sphere, for example.

Thirty-four or so companies enjoyed benefits until now. All in all, 2,655 companies with foreign capitals were operating in Uzbekistan on June 1, 2006, including 1,600 joint ventures, 460 foreign companies, and 486 outfits with foreign investments and authorized capital stock in excess of $150,000. Discounting the oil and gas industry, they could be found in food industry (38.4%), textile (13.7%), clothing (12.9%), hotel (7.8%), electrical (3.3%), and chemical industries (2.8%).

Foreign companies invested approximately $15 billion in the Uzbek economy since 1992.

Rosbalt news agency, May 31, 2006