Main theses about privatisation processes in Uzbekistan:

Privatization is still cherished. It got a bad rap in the late 90s in Latin America during the Washington Consensus years, sputtered out and died along with words like “deregulation”. But in Central Asia, there does not seem to be much in the way of public outrage against privatization.

The Hungarian bank OTP bought Ipoteka Bank, a state-owned bank there, back in 2022. The State Assets Management Agency (SAMA) of Uzbekistan sold their 57% stake in the local Coca-Cola -0.1% franchise to Coca-Cola Icecek of Turkey in 2021.

SAMA also sold its position in the Hyatt hotel in Tashkent, which opened in 2016, and was acquired by the Abu Dhabi Development Fund in 2022 and a Singaporean conglomerate, Indorama, took Uzbekistan’s largest fertilizer producer Kokand Superphosphate off the government’s hands in 2019.

The next wave of privatizations is dubbed the “People’s IPOs”. The government plans to sell small stakes – up to 2% of the total equity – of a wide range of companies to local retail investors via shares. Uzbek gold mine, Novoi, and the copper producer, Almalyk, are both on the list for this share offering to the local retail investor. “These are world-class assets. Our international investor clients will likely only be able to buy shares in the secondary market,” Martin says.

Mirziyoyev’s new privatization plan, announced in March, implies selling 1,000 state-own enterprises in different regions, 1,500 acres of land and more than 10 million square feet of real estate.

You can read the details on the Forbes website at this link.