Uzbekistan signed the Paris agreement on climate change

The signing ceremony took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York on 19 April 2017. On 27 September 2018, the Senate Oliy Majlis approved the law on ratification of the Paris agreement (Paris, 12 December 2015).

The Paris agreement is a document adopted within the UN Convention framework on climate change that regulates measures to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 2020.

To date, 170 countries have ratified the agreement, pledging to take measures to reduce emissions, re-equip and adapt to climate change, in particular, to make efforts to limit the global temperature growth to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Customs exemption for the import of certain products Presidential Decree No. 3479 was adopted earlier this year in order to ensure the efficient

use of available production capacity, as well as to provide support to domestic enterprises. The Decree approved the types of products of raw materials and goods for import (it includes cement, asbestos, glass construction, timber and coal), which are granted an exemptionon customs payments1 until the beginning of 2019. In September, an exemption from customs payments on coal was extended until 2020.2

Sale of state objects at the starting price of 1 soum

In accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers Decree No. 4543 dated 16 June 2018, via a single electronic trading platform "E-IJRO AUKSION" (e-auksion.uz) it became possible to buy unused state objects at a starting price of 1 soum.

In addition, with the release of the Presidential Decree "On additional measures to simplify the procedures for the implementation of business entities of state property and land rights", khokims (local government administrations) of the cities and districts can dispose unused state objects without an auction, that is, through negotiations with investors, if the amount of investment is not less than 1 million US dollars.

Moreover, for business and urban development (worth at least 1 million US dollars), the use of land (from the category of non-irrigated land) has become possible for a period of up to 50 years.

Furthermore, the right of permanent use of the land plot regardless of the category of lands, for the creation of objects of roadside and tourist infrastructure on standard projects can be granted to legal entities and individuals.

New investment law to be adopted

In accordance with the Presidential Edict "On measures to radically improve the investment climate in the Republic of Uzbekistan" (paragraph 11) dated 1 August 2018, a new investment law is to be enacted.

Currently, Uzbekistan legislation on investment activity is represented by an array of regulatory acts based on the laws "On investment activity", "On foreign investments", "On guarantees and measures of protection the rights of foreign investors", "On free economic zones", "On investment and mutual funds", "On concessions" and more than one hundred other regulatory legal acts.

The new law will replace the currently existing laws and will become the unified and sole source of legislative norms regulating activities of foreign investors in Uzbekistan.

The draft of the concept of the new law is available at https://invest.gov.uz/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Concept-of-the-Law-eng-15-10-2018.pdf .

Compensation for pollution changes from 2019

From 1 January 2019, a new procedure for payment of compensation for environmental pollution has been in effect.

According to the new procedure, the amount of minimum monthly wage (MMW) rates will be used to calculate compensation for the following activities of companies:

  • emissions of polluting substances in the atmosphere, with an indication of the coefficients to the MMW and the type of the pollutant;
  • emissions of polluting substances in the atmosphere by burning 1 ton of motor fuel (except individuals);
  • discharge of pollutants into water objects, terrain, and municipal sewage networks;
  • waste disposal (toxic/non-toxic).

Footnotes

[1] Except for customs registration fees

[2] Presidential Decree 5547 dated 30.09.2018

[3] Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 16 June 2018 No. 454 "On approval of the Regulations on procedure for carrying out the electronic biddings on the realization of objects of state-owned property and provision in a lease of the state-owned property".

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.