November 21, 2014
The volume of loans to the real sector of the economy reached 31.8 trillion soums. 2
The current state and development prospects of international goods transportation. 2
FINANCE
The volume of loans to the real sector of the economy reached 31.8 trillion soums
On November 19, the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan Banking Association and the Banking and Finance Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan held an international scientific-practical conference “Topical issues of participation of the banking and financial institutions in the modernization of the real sector of the economy of Uzbekistan.”
The conference was attended by deputies of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis, leading experts of foreign and national financial and credit institutions, ministries and departments, employees of commercial banks, international financial institutions accredited in Uzbekistan, faculty, senior research fellow researchers , graduates of leading universities, scientists research institutions of the Republic, and others.
The conference work was organized in 5 sections, which discussed issues of further enhancing the participation of banks in lending to the real sector, improving the mechanisms of fiscal policy in the modernization of these enterprises, the direction of foreign investment and the implementation of an active investment policy as an important condition and source of the country’s modernization, effective mechanisms for use of pension and insurance funds as a source of investment in the modernization of the real sector of the economy, and others.
It should be noted, that on November 1 this year, the amount of lending to the real sector of the economy, compared with the same period in 2013 increased by 30.8%, while in absolute terms reached 31.8 trillion soums(currency rates of CB RU from 21.11.2014 1$= 2396.79 soums).
The volume of investment bank loans increased compared with the corresponding period in 2013 by 1.2 times and exceeded 7.2 trillion soums.
Small business development is also at the focus of banks. Credits allocated to the subjects of this sphere, increased by 1.3 times compared to the same period of 2013 and as of November 1, 2014 amounted to 8 trillion soums.
(Source: UzReport.uz)
INFRASTRUCTURE
The current state and development prospects of international goods transportation
The Republic of Uzbekistan boasts a vital geopolitical location in the Central Asian region, which allows the country to actively develop a nationwide transport system and efficiently integrate it with a network of newly created international transit corridors and routes.
The dynamic development of industrial, investment and foreign economic ties depends to a large extent on a number of factors, including the development of transport communications and potentialities to organize the conveyance and handling of goods, while applying efficient logistics schemes.
The formation of a transport-communication complex in Uzbekistan and its subsequent integration with the international transport system are based on the principle of its outstripping development, compared with other sectors of the national economy. Another important peculiarity characterizing the development of the transport-communication complex in the Republic is the creation of multi-vector schemes for conveying its exports, which guarantee the nation a high degree of economic and transport security in today’s highly demanding market environment.
The directions prioritized for the development of the transport sector in the Uzbek economy include: a rise of transport communications’ carrying capacity, the realization of high-tech projects to develop and modernize transport arterial roads and adjacent infrastructure, the creation of new transport junctions and multi-modal centers of logistics and the expansion and modernization of a domestic fleet of motor vehicles, flying stock and rolling-stock.
The Republic’s network of railways and roads of international and domestic importance and means of air communication makes it possible to deliver goods to industrial clusters, industrial and agricultural enterprises and to a majority of economic establishments scattered on its territory.
To date, Uzbekistan is taking steps to further develop the national transport-communication complex, to create auspicious conditions for owners of freight, indigenous and foreign carriers, and to improve control over the transportation, handling and registration of goods. At the same time, particular attention is devoted to creating a favorable environment for entrepreneurs to carry out efficient production and investment activities in the Republic. At the present time, measures are taken to build and reconstruct motor roads of local and international importance, to upgrade and modernize the fleet of motor vehicles and rolling-stock, to create integrated logistics centers, to improve the related regulatory-legal framework, to introduce a flexible system of tariffs for goods traffic, to simplify customs procedures and to reduce the time spent by carriers of goods to undergo customs procedures and to register documents.
In Uzbekistan, the international road haulage is accomplished by indigenous and foreign carriers within the framework of the national legislation. The main export destinations include the CIS and the EU member states, as well as Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
The Republic of Uzbekistan has concluded bilateral agreements on the organization of international motor communication with 27 countries. These documents stipulate the accomplishment of export-import and transit road-haulage operations on preferential terms and with the provision of the most propitious conditions. Some of the agreements signed either fully exempt motor vehicles from the duties charged for the use of road networks, or specify a certain agreed upon number of motor vehicles to be granted exemption from such duties.
Also Uzbekistan has joined the 11 basic international conventions and covenants, regulating the functioning of motor transport.
In international practice, a country doesn’t carry out international road haulage operations with another country, if there is no corresponding agreement between them. If such an agreement is available, it specifies a limited quota for their carriers, in accordance with which their authorities exchange an equal quantity of entry and transit permits needed to transport goods to international destinations.
At the same time, pursuant to the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan, national law applies, if there are no relevant international agreements. In keeping with Uzbek law, bilateral and international transit operations require the payment of an established duty. As well as that, the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No 11 as of January 11th, 1995 bans the conveyance of goods from Uzbekistan to/from third countries, if international agreements stipulate otherwise.
It should be observed that nowadays the Republic’s authorized bodies are taking measures to review the provisions of some international bilateral agreements.
Both the duty-charging system and the duty-collection mechanism used in Uzbekistan essentially differ from those used in international practices. For instance, the entry duty is charged equally from foreign motor carriers, irrespective of the distance they cover and the mass of their motor vehicles.
Today, motor transport of Uzbekistan accounts for more than 90 per cent of local goods traffic and for some 6 per cent of international road haulage operations. Over 200 enterprises specializing in international transportation of goods by road operate in the country these days. Their share of the total volume of international road haulage reaches 40 per cent.
The Presidential Resolution No ПП-1446, “On acceleration of the development of infrastructural, transport and communications construction in the period 2011-2015” as of December 21st, 2010, approved a package of measures to build new transport-transit infrastructural facilities and to modernize existing ones. For the time being, the Republic is witnessing the stage-by-stage implementation of a project to construct a 2,700 km Uzbek national highway, encompassing a network of roads, half of which are high-class roads with cement-concrete surfacing. In addition, work is under way on the realization of programs for the construction and reconstruction of roads for local use, including rural ones.
In the current year, the following reconstruction projects will be finalized: a 100-km section of the M39 motor road Almaty – Bishkek – Tashkent – Shakhrisabz – Termez, a 85- km section of the A-380 road in Bukhara province, and the “Kamchik Pass” and “Fergana Ring” of the A-373 motor road.
Internal and international transit by rail freightage on the country’s territory is carried out by the State Joint-Stock Railway Company Uzbekiston Temir Yullary, set up in November 1994.
The major lines of the company’s activity are as follows: the organization of railway traffic, management of freightage operations, forwarding and delivery of goods by rail, repairs and technical maintenance of railroad cars, transportation of passengers and tourists, and renovation of the fleet of locomotives and rolling-stock.
The priority tasks facing the company are as follows: the implementation of investment projects to strengthen communication channels with the help of optical -fiber lines; to acquire new rolling-stock (such as electric locomotives and railroad cars), to modernize the existing railway lines and build new ones, to electrify railroads, to recondition the railway track, to produce units of the upper structure of railway line and spare parts at the company’s enterprises etc.
The State Joint-Stock Company Uzbekiston Temir Yullary is a member of the Organization of the Commonwealth of Railways. The company has established relations with a number of international institutions, including the International Union of Railroads, the UN Economic Commission on the Asia-Pacific Region (ESCATO) and the TRACECA Project as part of the EU Commission’s TACIS Program.
At present, the nation’s rail transport accounts for over 90 per cent of the total volume of international transit by rail freightage. Thanks to the policy of transport route diversification pursued by Uzbekistan, goods are conveyed to a variety of destinations, including the Baltic Sea ports of Riga, Klaipeda, Tallinn, Ventspils and Liepaya, the Black Sea ports of Iljichevsk and Poti/Batumi, the Far-Eastern ports of Vladivostok/Nakhodka, the Iranian port of Bandar-Abbas, as well as the border rail crossings of Brest (Belarus), Chop (Ukraine), Dostyk/Alashankou and Khorgoz/Korgoz (Kazakhstan and China) and Termez/Khairaton (Uzbekistan and Afghanistan).
In a bid to intensify the Republic’s transit potential, a special program has been launched to develop and modernize the national network of railways and roadside infrastructure. The results of its successful realization are now visible in different places. These include, in particular, the new railway sections Navoi – Uchkuduk – Sultanuizdag (341 km) and Tashguzar – Boisun – Kumkurgan (220 km) recently put into service. One should also mention here the completion of a project to construct a 75-km railroad Khairaton – Mazari-Sharif, the first one in Afghanistan.
The implementation of two more projects is currently in full swing: to electrify the railway sections Marokand – Karshi and Karshi – Termez.
In June 2013, in order to create a new Trans-Asian transport corridor, Uzbekistan has started a project to build a new electrified railroad between the Uzbek cities of Angren and Pap (125 km). Running through the Kamchik Pass, this branch-line will connect the central part of Uzbekistan with the eastern regions of the Fergana Valley. The completion of the US $2 billion worth project and the subsequent commissioning of the new railroad are due to take place in 2016. The project also envisages the construction of two tunnels.
With a given railroad being put into operation and a new branch-line between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Uzbekistan (via the territory of Kyrgyzstan) built and got up and running, it’ll become possible to form a new transcontinental railway corridor, stretching from the Chinese sea ports, via Uzbekistan, to the countries of Central Asia, Near East and Southern Europe.
International transportation of goods by air is performed by several carriers such as the National Air Company Uzbekiston Khavo Yullary, Korean Air and a number of foreign companies, all of which operate freight and passenger flights to and from Uzbekistan.
Founded in 1992, the National Joint-Stock Company Uzbekiston Khavo Yullary is a state-owned, dynamically developing air company of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Under a program to modernize the country’s air transport, the air company plans to renovate its flying-stock of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, as well as to reconstruct all the ground infrastructural facilities in the regions. For the time being, the flying-stock of Uzbekiston Khavo Yullary comprises 33 airplanes made in the West. In June and August 2016, it will be supplemented with two Boeing-787-800 Dreamliner aircraft, worth US $246.4 million.
The National Air Company flies to more than 40 cities in Europe, Asia and America. Generally, goods are transported by air via Tashkent International Airport, the International Intermodal Logistics Center “Navoi” and a number of other airports of international importance.
The International Intermodal Logistics Center “Navoi’ has been created on the basis of Navoi Airport, in keeping with a special resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Its close location and integration with the Navoi Special Industrial-Economic Zone allows the Center to transport the output of the pharmaceutics, electrical engineering, automobile construction and other industries.
The Air Company “Korean Air”, with long experience and a high international ranking, was selected in 2008 by the National Air Company “Uzbekiston Khavo Yullary” as its main partner in the field of development and management of the International Intermodal Logistics Center “Navoi”. A special agreement on the management of Navoi International Airport stipulates the transfer of the corresponding right to Korean Air for 5 years, with the term having been extended last year.
Today, Navoi International Airport fully meets the strict security requirements that exist in the international transit and transportation domain. As for the International Intermodal Logistics Center “Navoi”, it also satisfies all the international standards typically imposed on international logistics centers elsewhere in the world. It is in a position to handle and store up to 300 tons of goods at its cargo terminal a day. Moreover, the IILCN can daily serve as many as 20 flights.
From Navoi International Airport, air planes fly to 15 destinations, including Aktyubinsk, Bishkek, Brussels, Vienna, Dacca, Delhi, Dubai, Moscow, Milano, Mumbai, Seoul, Istanbul, Tbilisi, Tyantsyn and Hanoi.
With a view to forming a system of multimodal freight transportation, complex conveyance operations are carried out in the Republic by several means of overland transport, which connect the existing destinations of air communication with the main regional centers of Uzbekistan and Central Asia.
It is necessary to point out that Euroasia Logistics Service, an Uzbek-Korean Joint Venture, specializing in road haulage, is presently operating in Uzbekistan in both republican and regional markets. The State Joint-Stock Company “Urta Osiyo Trans” and Hanjin Co. LTD participated in its creation. Transportation of goods from the International Intermodal Logistics Center “Navoi” is one of the activities carried out by the company. To date, Euroasia Logistics Service has 20 truck tractors with semitrailers.
Apart from the IILCN, there are also two international logistics centers operating in Uzbekistan and another two will be put into service before long.
The International Logistics Center “Angren” that was commissionedat the railway station Ablyk in 2010, is now one of the biggest logistics centers in the country. It provides logistics services to motor and railway carriers. Its major aim is the acceptance and handling of consignments of goods, as well as their guaranteed all-the-year-round delivery by road to Andijan, Namangan and Fergana provinces through the Kamchik and Rezak Passes, providing a reliable transport connection between the Fergana Valley and other regions of Uzbekistan.
At the present time, the International Logistics Center “Angren” has at its disposal the following facilities: warehouses, a combined terminal, spur-tracks, shunting grounds, a hotel and safeguarding structures. The transit-cargo terminal’s area is approximately 8.5 hectares, where railway tracks are available to accomplish the loading and unloading of goods to and from railroad cars.
The International Logistics Center has 340 units of automobile transport, including container carriers, motor carriers, roll carriers, colliers, tank trucks, timber trucks, cement carriers and dump-body trucks.
Among the main goods transported by road are automobiles made by GM Uzbekistan, components of motor vehicles, oil products from the Fergana Oil Refinery, chemicals, farm produce and suchlike.
To improve transport-logistics infrastructure of the Fergana Valley in accordance with modern requirements, to augment the volumes of cargo transportation, to create propitious conditions needed for the timely and uninterrupted delivery of goods, as well as to use the railway infrastructural facilities more efficiently, the Multimodal Logistics Center “Pap” has been put into operation in Namangan province in 2014.It is functioning at the State Joint-Stock Company Railway Company Uzbekiston Temir Yullary.
Based in the village Khanabad, the 60-ha MLC “Pap” comprises a container ground, a specialized open ground, several covered warehouses, an administrative building, a 25-km spur-track from the railway station Pap to the Multimodal Logistics Center “Pap”, manmade installations (bridges, level crossings and overpasses) and other units of engineering-communication infrastructure.
The Logistics Center, whose cargo-handling volumes are planned to gradually reach 4 million tons a year, provides the process of cargo conveyance with various means of transport, such as a fleet of motor vehicles run by the Logistics Center “Angren”. They are used to convey goods via the Kamchik Pass. Additionally, the MLC “Pap” makes use of the warehouses located on the territory of the Fergana regional railway junction, with the total storage capacity coming to 91.7 thou tons.
The Multimodal Logistics Center “Pap” has boosted potentialities of the transport infrastructural facilities that are available in the Fergana Valley, while raising the economic efficacy of road haulage and transit by rail freightage.
Besides, in the current year an international logistics terminal will be put into service in the town of Termez (Surkhandarya province). The year 2015 will see the commissioning of an international logistics center in the country’s capital city. These “dry ports” will render a whole spectrum of services, including the handling, storage, customs clearance and door-to-door delivery of goods. Under several investment projects currently under way, different infrastructural facilities will be built, such as multi-purpose warehouses, container grounds, railway tracks and access roads for large-load main motor vehicles and other installations of transport infrastructure. These centers are intended to deal with both the Republic’s foreign trade goods and goods from the countries contagious to Uzbekistan.
In a bid to further develop the transport sector of the Uzbek economy, to lure investment and additional cargo volumes to be conveyed and handled, to create a favorable environment for entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses and transport logistics services, the current market situation is carefully studied in the Republic on an enduring basis. Also, all steps taken in this direction are accurately monitored.
National authorized organizations and departments reduce tariffs on the main exports transported by rail across the territory of Uzbekistan, in order to raise the competitiveness of national exporters’ output. Moreover, they create additional auspicious conditions designed to assist domestic enterprises, including small and medium-sized businesses, in organizing the efficient transportation of their exportables.
Besides, work is in progress on the formation of new indigenous and international transport routes, organization of multimodal schemes for cargo transportation, modernization of road-side infrastructure, acquisition of modern machinery and equipment, introduction of up-to-date methods into the performance of international logistics centers and realization of measures intended to back national operators of motor transport.
(Source: «Business partner.uz» newspaper)
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