Characteristics of the current stage of privatization in Uzbekistan

From the first years of independence in Uzbekistan, special attention was paid to increasing the share of private property in the economy and privatization of state enterprises. At the same time, state participation remains in the leading sectors of the economy and in a number of large enterprises.

In the Message of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Oliy Majlis dated December 29, 2020, it was emphasized that most state-owned enterprises are not financially sustainable and that one of the important directions of structural reforms is to accelerate the transformation of state-owned companies and reduce the state's participation in the economy [1]. The task of reducing the state's share in the economy is mainly solved by privatization of state-owned objects. Meanwhile, effective implementation of privatization largely depends on the creation of its perfect scientific and methodological foundations.

Research results

The topic of privatization has been in the attention of politicians, economists and lawyers for several years. There are several definitions of the concept of privatization in the economic literature. According to them privatization is a change in property relations, in which state-owned objects are transferred to collective, joint-stock and private ownership [2]. A publication published by the German Society for Technical Cooperation on privatization noted that privatization is usually understood as the transfer of ownership of state-owned enterprises to private individuals. In most cases, as a result of privatization, it is assumed that the privatized enterprises will be transferred to private investors who will be able to actively manage them [3].

In a broad sense, privatization means, in our opinion, not a simple transfer of state property to private property entities. Privatization is mainly carried out to solve certain problems facing the state and society. In addition, privatization implies the fulfillment of certain conditions, for example, payment for the object being privatized or ensuring its effective use and other similar measures.

The main goals and objectives of privatization can be the following:

• -    increase production efficiency in enterprises being privatized;

• -    creating an environment of free competition in the economy by increasing various forms of enterprises based on private property;

• -    formation of a class of owners in the society, attraction of additional funds for solving social issues;

• -    introduction of modern management principles and new technologies;

• -    increase the competitiveness of the enterprise in foreign and domestic markets;

• -    reducing the financial burden on the state by eliminating subsidies to the state enterprise.

Based on the above, the concept of privatization can be defined as follows: privatization is the transfer of ownership of state-owned objects to private property entities under certain conditions to ensure their effective use and to solve goals and tasks that serve the interests of society.

In order to effectively solve the tasks of privatization, it is necessary to pay attention to two main issues. First, to whom to give public property as private property. Secondly, on what terms and methods to give state property.

From the first years of independence in Uzbekistan, serious attention was paid to the reform of property relations, the creation of legal and economic bases for the development of private property, the formation of multiformity and free competition environment in the economy. It is known that during the former Soviet union, all means of production were considered state property. In this sense, the implementation of market reforms in the republic required, first of all, the adoption of large-scale privatization programs to solve the problems of reducing state ownership and transferring it to the efficient private sector. The world experience in privatization issues has been thoroughly studied In Uzbekistan and it was approached taking into account the peculiarities of the model for the formation of a market economy in the republic.

The stages of privatization in Uzbekistan and their features are covered in the work of Butikov I.L., Berkinov B.B., Yaushev R.I. and other researchers. However, these researchers identified the stages of privatization between 1991-2003 [4]. And in the periods after 2003, scientific studies on determining the stages of privatization have not been carried out sufficiently.

The analysis of the adopted regulatory and legal documents on privatization during the years 2003-2016 showed that during this period shows that reducing the state share in previously privatized enterprises, the introduction of the procedure of giving low-profitable, loss-making, economically insolvent state enterprises, low-liquidity objects to investors free of charge on the condition that the investor accepts investment obligations were the main aspects of the privatization work in this period.

From 2017 to today, privatization has reached a new level, and the following can be pointed out as its main aspects:

• -    further expansion of privatization of state property and simplification of its procedures, reduction of state participation in charter funds of economic entities, creation of favorable conditions for the development of private entrepreneurship on the basis of privatized objects;

• -    creating a system of assistance and support to previously privatized enterprises;

• -    expanding the authority of local authorities in privatization, simplifying the procedures for the sale of state-owned objects;

• -    expansion of the scope of privatization, reform and transformation of state-owned enterprises and preparation for privatization;

• -    simplifying the involvement of international consulting, audit and investment consultants, investment banks and other specialized companies in putting public assets on public auctions and organizing their sale processes.

An important aspect of privatization today is the reform and transformation of large state-owned enterprises to operate in accordance with the principles of the market economy. The list of state-owned enterprises to be reformed by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan № PF-6096 dated October 27, 2020 "On measures to accelerate the reform of state-owned enterprises and privatization of state assets", including:

• -    32 large state-owned enterprises and economic societies to be transformed;

• -    39 enterprises where corporate management and financial audit will be

introduced and operational efficiency will be increased;

• -    the list of 62 state assets to be put up for public auction through targeted programs of preparation before privatization and increasing investment attractiveness was approved.

The analysis of the work carried out in the field of privatization shows that the number of state-owned objects privatized in 20172021 is 1.9 times more than that of privatized in 2012-2016.

Conclusion. In general, the current stage of privatization differs from the privatization processes of 1991-2016 due to its scope, the privatization of large state-owned enterprises and shares, and envisaged privatization of the banking sector and expanding the powers of local governments in the sale of state property, simplifying the privatization procedure and introducing new methods and carrying out the transformation of state-owned enterprises along with privatization.

In order to improve the privatization and its scientific and methodological foundations in Uzbekistan, it is advisable to implement the following:

• -    the concept of "transformation" of state-owned enterprises is used in recent decisions on privatization and management of state assets. In order to ensure the correct interpretation of this concept in practice, to define it through legislation and clearly define its tasks;

• -    conducting regular empirical studies on the assessment of the impact of privatization on enterprises in order to determine the effectiveness of privatization;

• -    development of public-private partnership projects on the basis of state-owned objects;

• -    improving the scientific and methodological base for preparing state enterprises for privatization and increasing their investment attractiveness;

• -    development of the concept of

  privatization of state-owned objects.

  References

  
  

  • 1.    Address of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh.M. Mirziyov to the Oliy Majlis // Halq so'zi (The word of the people) December 30, 2020.

  • 2.    Vekchanov G.S., Vekchanova G.R. Kraktkaya ekonomicheskaya enciklopediya. Spb., TOO TK «Petropolis”, 1998. st. 49.

  • 3.    Privatizaciya: opyt Germanii i stran s reformiruemoj ekonomikoj Central'noj i Vostochnoj Evropy. Nemeckoe obshchestva po tekhnicheskomu sotrudnichestvu (GTZ), Eshborn 1999. – 218 s.

  • 4.    Institucional'nye osnovy formirovaniya mnogoukladnoj ekonomiki: kollektivnaya monografiya / Pod obshch. red. I.L. Butikova. – Tashkent: Konsauditinform, 2002. – 272 s.