American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce
BUSINESS NEWSLETTER
 
Week in Review:
July 13, 2012 - July 20, 2012

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In This Issue:
AUCC IN BRIEF
Uzbekistan to cut number of permission procedures
GM Uzbekistan to produce new model of car
Uzbekneftegaz re-announces tender on for modernization of Ferghana Refinery
Pantos Logistics wins a logistics contract from GM Uzbekistan
IFC invests a record $4.2 Billion in Europe & Central Asia in FY12 to support economic growth

Established in 1993, the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce (AUCC) is a private, non-profit trade association representing interests of U.S. businesses ranging in size from small private enterprises to large, multinational corporations conducting business in Uzbekistan.

Our Mission: To advocate the views of the business community to ensure that private sector positions are considered during the development of key policies that impact American businesses and the future of U.S.-Uzbekistan relations.

Our Objective: To serve the needs of its members by strengthening commercial relations between the United States and Uzbekistan.
http://uzdaily.com
President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a decree on measures to cardinally decrease statistic, tax, financial reporting, licensing types of activities and permission procedures on 16 July 2012.

The document was adopted in order to improve business environment, create favourable conditions for businesses due to abolishing red tape, decrease and simplify licensing and permission procedures, improve reporting system and its submission.

According to the decree, from 1 August 2012 Uzbekistan will abolish 80 permission procedures (26% of total number) and 15 licensing types of activities (20% of total number) due to their abolishment and unification.

Uzbek head also approved decreasing number of state statistics, financial, tax and other types of reports due to abolishing and unification of duplicate forms.

From 1 August 2012, according to decree, the licenses to some types of activities will be issued without term limit. At the same time, those licenses, which were already issues, will be non-expiring, the document said.

Uzbek President forbade state bodies, which issues licenses, to reject to issue license, if the business entity submitted the document for the second time after eliminating shortages.

Islam Karimov also abolished system on submission of monthly tax reports on all types and mandatory payments, excluding tax for super profit, from 1 January 2013.

According to the decree, microfirms will submit statistics reports on annual basis, while state statistics bodies can make selective research on quarterly basis.

Islam Karimov warned heads of the authorized bodies that they will be personally responsible for execution of laws on licensing and permission procedures in entrepreneurial activity.

President Islam Karimov also entrusted the Government of Uzbekistan to submission of statistics, tax and financial reports in electronic form by the end of 2014. He also entrusted the government to introduce electronic system on obtaining licenses and permissions via Internet.

http://uzdaily.com 
GM Uzbekistan, an Uzbek-US carmaker, is planning to launch production of new model of automobile of Nexia class, local newspaper Uzbekistan Today said.

The paper reported that Uzavtosanoat, which unites enterprises of car industry, implements projects in Andijan and Ferghana to launch production of new components for cars of GM Uzbekistan.

Overall, Uzavtosanoat will implement seven projects in 2012. The company also continues work on creation of new complex on production of cargo vehicles, trailers in Samarkand region, it added.

http://uzdaily.com  

Uzbekneftegaz national holding company announced a tender on holding audit and development of preliminary feasibility study for modernization and reconstruction of existing technologic capacities of Ferghana Refinery in order to produce oil products of Euro-3 and higher standards.

According to the tender terms, the starting cost is US$795,000. The winner should develop variants of optimization of technologic capacities of the plant and schemes for increasing production of light oil products up to 95%. Tender proposals are received till 13 August 2012.

The tender for development of feasibility study has been announced three times in 2010-2011, but they were abolished due to low number of applications. Uzbekneftegaz was planning to launch modernization of the Ferghana Refinery in the end of 2012, but now project implementation can be started in 2014.

The project with estimated cost of US$100 will be financed due to own resources of Uzbekeftegaz and loans of the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan.

Ferghana Refinery was commissioned in 1959 and currently it produces about 60 types of oil products. The designed processing capacity of the plant is about 5.5 million tonnes of oil a year.

http://www.sacbee.com/
Pantos Logistics, which is the largest logistics business in South Korea, has been selected as the logistics business for GM Uzbekistan. 

Pantos Logistics announced that it signed an international transportation contract that will use the Trans Siberian Railway (TSR) with GM Uzbekistan, which is a local joint venture of General Motors, the world's No.1 automobile maker. 

Under the contract, Pantos Logistics will carry out the transportation of semi-knockdowns (SKDs) between GM's factory in Gunsan, South Korea and Tashkent, Uzbekistan via TSR or Trans China Railroad (TCR) and of complete knockdowns (CKDs) between factories in Brazil, Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Tashkent.  

Pantos Logistics boasts a solid world logistics network extending to a total of 155 regions around the world, including the CIS countries, such as Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan. The Company has built experience concerning transportation to the stated countries via TSR and TCR over the past decade. 

The Company plans to step up its foray in the global logistical operation concerning vehicles, using the stated contract as momentum. 

http://finchannel.com  

During fiscal year 2012, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, supported the private sector in Europe and Central Asia by investing a record $4.2 billion in 114 projects; advising banks on risk and nonperforming asset management; and advising companies on sustainable business practices and public-private partnerships.

IFC channeled about 55 percent of its total commitments in Europe and Central Asia to the financial sector, expanding access to finance for businesses and individuals, with a focus on underserved countries and regions. Some $1.3 billion of IFC's commitments were mobilized from international and regional commercial banks, despite the economic uncertainty in European financial markets affecting much of the region, constraining credit and limiting investment.
Tomasz Telma, IFC Director for Europe and Central Asia, said, "IFC continued to play a countercyclical role in Europe and Central Asia in fiscal 2012 by supporting inclusive and sustainable private sector growth, with a focus on access to finance, agribusiness, infrastructure, and climate change-related projects."
Highlights of IFC's results in the region for FY12, which ended on June 30:
IFC invested a record $2.3 billion in 72 financial-market projects, complemented by advisory services focused on corporate governance and risk management, helping expand access to finance for micro, small, and medium companies.

IFC's trade finance program provided a record $926 million of guarantees facilitating cross-border trade and economic ties.

IFC invested more than $1 billion in 46 projects targeting micro, small, and medium enterprises.

IFC's investments targeting the region's poorest countries totaled $265 million in 26 projects.

IFC supported five South-South investments among emerging markets totaling $287 million in financing.

IFC invested $854 million in 18 projects in infrastructure and natural-resources sectors, including railway and information technology in Russia; renewable energy in Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania; and a port terminal in Ukraine .

IFC invested more than $1 billion in 25 projects in manufacturing, agribusiness, and services sectors-supporting agribusiness in Georgia, Serbia, and Ukraine; aluminum products manufacturer in Belarus; and health-care providers in Russia and Turkey.

IFC continued to advise banks on better risk and asset management and financing climate-friendly projects; manufacturing companies on sustainable business practices, resource, and energy efficiency; and governments on improving investment climate and structuring public-private partnerships through 105 advisory projects.

IFC's regional advisory programs for cleaner production, renewable energy, and energy efficiency helped private sector companies avoid about 700,000 tons of emissions of carbon dioxide.

IFC Advisory Services targeting agribusiness continued to provide training and advice to government inspectors and food producers on international best practices in food safety, helping improve competitiveness of local food processors.

IFC Advisory Services supported governments in reforming business inspections, permits, and tax-administration systems, contributing to more than 400 legislative acts to improve the business climate within the region.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, IFC committed about $93 million in Georgia and mobilized additional $25 million from other lenders. We continued helping our partner banks - Bank of Georgia , TBC Bank , and Bank Republic - to finance the foreign trade transactions of local companies, boosting foreign trade. We also supported the leading Georgian wine producer and exporter, Tbilvino, creating employment opportunities in rural areas and benefitting small farmers. IFC advisory services projects continued to focus on reforming the tax system to benefit small businesses, raising food safety standards and strengthening the risk-management practices of banks.
In FY13, IFC will continue to support the diversification of economies, ensuring access to basic goods and services and expanding efforts to counteract climate change. By focusing on the poorest countries and regions, IFC aims to create opportunity where it's needed most.


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