Has your jurisdiction enacted legislation or adopted international best practices regarding disclosure
of payments by resource companies to government entities in accordance with the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Standard?
To date, Uzbekistan has not enacted any laws enforcing provisions of EITI.
Foreign investment
Foreign ownership restrictions
Are there any foreign ownership restrictions in your jurisdiction relevant to the mining industry?
There are no foreign ownership restrictions relevant to the mining industry in Uzbekistan. In practice,
however, the mining industry is viewed as a strategic sector of the economy and as a result most large-
scale mining projects are implemented by state-owned mining companies.
International treaties
Applicable international treaties
What international treaties apply to the mining industry or an investment in the mining industry?
GRATA International - Bakhodir
Jabborov
Uzbekistan is a party to several international treaties relevant to the mining industry, including the
Treaty
on Cooperation in Study, Exploration and Use of Mineral Resources of 27 March 1997.
Uzbekistan has also concluded about 50 bilateral investment treaties with other countries and is a
party to a number of multilateral treaties concerning foreign investment. Thus, on 6 May 1994,
Uzbekistan ratified the 1965 Washington Convention on the Procedure of Settlements of Investment
Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States.
Update and trends
Update and trends
What were the biggest mining news events over the past year in your jurisdiction and what were the
implications? What are the current trends and developments in 2017 in your jurisdiction's mining
industry (legislation, major cases, significant transactions)?
As noted in question 6, in 2017 the government passed several regulations aiming to simplify
procedures for discussing and accessing subsoil plots and prospective areas of hard minerals by
foreign
investors, and as a result several leading multinational mining companies have reached
agreements with the Geology Committee for exploration of prospective areas of gold and other
minerals.
In 2017, the US Geological Survey ranked Uzbekistan as the world’s ninth-largest gold producer.
