State-owned stakes in 1,000 enterprises to be put up for sale

Shavkat Mirziyoyev convened a meeting March 24 to approve a new privatisation programme that defines three steps - selling shares, selling real estate and organising an IPO.

Under the programme, the following steps will be taken:

—First, state-owned stakes in 1,000 enterprises will be put up for sale.

—Secondly, 1 thousand pieces of real estate will be put up for public sale. They include 600 hectares of land and buildings with a total area of 1 million square meters. Most importantly, they are provided with infrastructure and are located near populated areas.

In order to expedite the sale of these properties, the period for preparing the properties for sale will be reduced from the current 80 days to 48 days. It will be allowed to put up for sale objects of up to 2 thousand square metres upon direct application of entrepreneurs.

—Thirdly, state-owned shares in 40 large companies and banks will be sold through a "people's IPO". In particular, for the first time, the public will be offered about 2 per cent of the shares of such large enterprises as Navoi and Almalyk mining and smelting plants, Uzbek Steel Works, Uztelecom, the National Bank and Sanoatkurilishbank.

Individuals will have the opportunity to buy shares directly from companies. Companies whose shares were purchased in the IPO will allocate at least 30 percent of their net profit to dividend payments over a five-year period.

It is estimated that the programme will generate 13 trillion soums in revenue this year and contribute to the creation of 3,000 new enterprises and 50,000 jobs.