This decree, which was adopted, begins a qualitatively new and mature stage of structural reforms. As part of the program, state shares in 84 economic societies, more than 1.2 thousand real estate objects and nearly 8 thousand hectares of land are put up for open auction. Their total estimated value is approximately 100 trillion soums, and at least 14 trillion soums are expected to be received this year. However, from the point of view of practical economic analysis, the main importance of this document is manifested not only in the scale of budget revenues, but also in the systematic elimination of existing obstacles for private capital.
For the first time, the conditions for purchasing assets have been adapted to the actual capabilities of the business. The reduction of the initial payment amount from 35% to 15%, the complete abolition of interest calculation in installments and the introduction of flexible discount mechanisms - that is, a 25% discount when completing the transaction within six months or the possibility of long-term payment in installments of 5-7 years - will directly solve the problem of the lack of long-term financial resources of local investors. At the same time, the state is also eliminating the problem of properties that have not been used for many years and have low liquidity. By gradually reducing the starting price for assets that have not found a buyer for three months and introducing hybrid Anglo-Dutch auctions, it will be possible to determine their true market value and return the frozen capital to economic circulation. Also, the introduction of the practice of selling land plots "ready-made" with technical conditions for connection to urban planning and engineering networks in advance will significantly reduce the significant regulatory costs borne by the investor.
The provisions of the decree are of special strategic importance for the fuel and energy complex of the republic. For decades, JSC "Uzbekneftgaz", "Uztransgaz", JSC "Uzbekhydroenergo" and enterprises of regional power networks have borne a huge burden of maintaining non-profile assets such as gas stations, oil depots, service housing stock, repair workshops and unused production buildings. Including these objects in the privatization program allows network operators to get rid of non-profile assets. For energy companies, this means an opportunity to directly optimize balances, free up investment resources, and direct capital expenditures only to priority technological areas - storage of reservoir pressure, geological exploration, well drilling, modernization of network infrastructure, and digitalization of energy resource accounting.
In addition, the privatization of hundreds of local gas stations and fuel storage bases will stimulate healthy competition in the field of motor fuel distribution and encourage private owners to modernize the tank infrastructure and introduce modern service systems. Also, the sale of 8,000 hectares of commercial land on the basis of clear and transparent technical conditions will serve to predict technological connection points in advance, regulate the load in the regional electricity distribution networks and prevent power shortages. In the process of privatization of strategically important enterprises, maintaining the "special participation right" ("golden share") mechanism of the state ensures that market liberalization does not conflict with the interests of national energy security.
In short, Decree No. PF-177 forms a pragmatic model based on the gradual abandonment of the role of the state as the entity managing surplus property and the transfer of assets to effective owners. If the transparency of digital auctions is ensured, this step will give a strong impetus to private entrepreneurship, optimize the infrastructure of the fuel and energy complex, and create stable and quality foundations of economic growth.
