Further tasks for developing competition were discussed

On August 5, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev familiarized himself with a presentation of measures aimed at developing competition, the press service of the head of our state reports.

The ongoing work to reduce the state presence in the economy and curb large monopolies has a positive impact on the competitive environment. In particular, over the past five years, the competitive environment has improved for more than 25 goods. Exclusive rights that limited competition have been abolished for 7 types of activities. The number of enterprises with state participation has decreased by 42 percent, and the number of private entrepreneurship entities has increased by 1.6 times.

Last year, the Law ‘‘On Competition’’ was adopted in a new version. The Committee for the Development of Competition and Protection of Consumer Rights was granted additional effective powers. According to studies conducted on this basis, in some organizations such phenomena as the adoption of anti-competitive decisions, the conclusion of direct contracts, and the use of a dominant position in trade are observed.

In this regard, the Concept for the Development of Competition has been developed in order to expand the scope and improve the efficiency of work in this area. This concept defines further tasks to reduce state participation in the economy, liberalize access to the market and create equal conditions for entrepreneurs.

Thus, it is planned to cancel regulatory provisions and excessive requirements that hinder free access of business entities to markets. It is envisaged to introduce concessions aimed at reducing the regulatory burden, in particular, permitting procedures and licenses will be replaced by mandatory liability insurance.

Independent market regulators will be introduced in areas of natural monopolies. In commodity markets associated with natural monopolies and where there is an opportunity for the development of competition, the participation of natural monopoly entities will be limited.

The scale of direct government procurement will be reduced, they will be completely transferred to competitive methods. It is envisaged to cancel the provision of individual state aid that restricts competition, including exclusive rights, benefits, preferences and concessions.

Through the mutual integration of information systems of government agencies, digital monitoring of all links in the pricing chain of socially significant products will be established. A non-disclosure system and incentives for individuals who provide information on cases of anti-competitive agreements and actions, collusion will be introduced.

In general, as a result of the implementation of this concept, measures will be taken to gradually eliminate 17 types of state monopoly in a number of areas, such as energy, oil and gas, water management, road construction, railway and airport services. Anti-competitive actions in public procurement will be suppressed and transparency of these processes will be ensured. Commodity and raw materials exchanges will increase supply, expand the choice for buyers.

The President gave additional instructions to continue work in this area, ensure the principles of a free market, and develop entrepreneurship. The need to reduce the state’s share in the economy, and gradually transfer individual functions to the private sector was noted. The task was set to constantly analyze the state of competition in the commodity, financial and digital markets, and make proposals to improve procedures.

Over the past three years, more than 2 thousand acts that contradict competition laws have been identified at the local level. In most cases, these are documents of local khokimiyats and ministries. In this regard, the need to intensify the work of territorial departments of the Committee for the Development of Competition and improve the qualifications of personnel was noted.

The importance of increasing openness and strengthening work on covering the activities of the committee was also noted. It was emphasized that this is important for preventing violations of the law and creating a transparent environment.