Special economic zones

Yes. The application can also be filed via my.gov.uz. A foreign legal entity submits legalized or apostilled documents with a notarized translation into the state language and English. After a plot is obtained at auction, a legal entity is registered in Uzbekistan within 5 working days, and that legal entity obtains participant status.

Plots are leased through an electronic online auction. The auction winner obtains the right to conclude a lease and an investment agreement with the directorate. Vacant state-owned facilities may be sold at auction subject to investment obligations.

The directorate makes a decision within 10 working days. Under the regulation, it takes 25 working days in total from application to certificate, excluding the auction period. If the documents are returned, they can be resubmitted within 30 days; a repeat review takes 5 working days.

The only ground is the discovery of false or distorted information in the documents. Rejection on any other grounds is prohibited; deficiencies in the documents are grounds for returning the application, not for rejecting it.

Yes. Land plots may be leased directly by a decision of the Cabinet of Ministers after the Government Commission selects the best offer. The value of the lease right is set as coefficients applied to the market value.

Performance of the investment obligation must begin within 6 months of the selection decision. If it does not begin without a valid reason, the lease agreement is terminated and the land is returned to the directorate's balance sheet.

A one-time fee of 45 times the base calculation amount (UZS 19.8 million). The fee is paid after the auction and the conclusion of the agreement, before the certificate is obtained.

For land tax, property tax and customs payments: from $300,000 to $3 million — 3 years, $3–5 million — 5 years, $5–10 million — 7 years, $10 million and above — 10 years. For profit tax: $3–5 million — 3 years, $5–15 million — 5 years, $15 million and above — 10 years.

For property tax and land tax, from the day the participant certificate is obtained. For profit tax, from the date the production facility in the zone is accepted into operation.

For those obtaining status from that date, the profit tax incentive is granted not as a tax exemption but as the right to accelerated depreciation of fixed assets over 3, 5 or 10 years, depending on the investment amount.

Yes. If the amount reaches a tier with a longer period, the period is extended according to the actual amount. If the increase occurs after the previous period has expired, the incentive applies from the first day of the month following the month in which the right arose.

Investors newly starting operations in a special economic zone may be granted a land lease of up to 49 years.

No. The notice of winning is sent to the business registration system, and the company is automatically re-registered in the zone.

Yes. In a special economic zone, entrepreneurs may build production buildings at their own expense and lease them out or sell them on industrial mortgage and installment terms. The procedure and project criteria are set by the Cabinet of Ministers.

At least 90 percent of the employees of zone companies must be citizens of Uzbekistan. Working conditions may not be worse than those provided by law and ILO conventions.

Yes. During the incentive period, but for no more than 10 years, the tax rules in force on the date the participant was entered in the register apply. Excisable goods are excluded.

The directorate draws up a report and grants up to 90 days to remedy the breach. If it is not remedied, notice is given that the agreement will be terminated; this can be challenged in court within 10 days. If status is revoked, the incentives are cancelled and unpaid taxes and customs payments are recovered in full.

If a private investor builds infrastructure for production with the permission of the Cabinet of Ministers, the costs are later reimbursed from the zone's funds.

No. The directorate has no right to interfere in participants' activities carried out in accordance with the law.

If the zone is liquidated on certain grounds established by law, participants are granted, by decision of the President, guarantees and compensation for damage or lost profits, or the previously granted incentives are retained.