The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a government meeting on the privatization of state-owned enterprises in Uzbekistan on November 8, the presidential press service said.

In 2021-2022, it is planned to reduce the number of enterprises with a state’s share by at least 3 times. 619 state assets worth 4.5 trillion soums have been sold year-to-date, (US$ 420.8 million at the exchange rate of the Central Bank as of November 9).

In his inaugural speech, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that expediting the transformation and privatization of state-owned enterprises will be one of the priorities of economic reforms.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed that the main issue is the introduction of new methods of privatization and ensuring transparency at all its stages.

He underscored the importance of increasing the financial stability and investment attractiveness of privatized enterprises. To this end, he instructed to develop a strategy for the privatization of large industrial enterprises engaging reputable international consultants and emphasized the necessity of attracting managers of international level to the management of strategic enterprises.

He outlined that in the process of selling assets worth more than US$ 10 million, the acceptance and evaluation of proposals will be carried out by an independent foreign consultant.

In 2022, it is planned to sell 32 large state assets, carry out the privatization of Uzpromstroybank, and also put up for sale 368 non-core and ineffective assets of state enterprises. 770 assets in the provinces have been prepared for sale. It is expected that due to this, the budget will receive about 10 trillion soums.

The President emphasized the need to attract strategic investors to state-owned enterprises, not only using existing capacities, but also expanding the activities of enterprises.

For example, a cluster of the chemical industry is being created in place of the Navoiazot, with the organization of three separate enterprises. An experienced private operator will be hired to manage the cluster's infrastructure.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev underscored the importance of investors, along with investing capital, proposing new projects, introducing modern knowledge and technologies.

The Finance Minister Timur Ishmetov said earlier that the main goal of privatization is to show investors that the state is leaving the markets and they can not be afraid that they will face unfair competition from state-owned companies.