The Uzbek model, privatisation and the so‘m

On the eve of independence the economy was a centrally planned Soviet one; the country chose a gradual transition to a market economy, and in official documents this path was called the “Uzbek model”. Its five principles were: priority of the economy over politics, the state as the main reformer, the rule of law, a strong social policy, and changes carried out steadily, step by step. The law of 18 November 1991 “On Denationalisation and Privatisation of Property” started privatisation, first of housing, trade and service enterprises, and small-scale privatisation was completed in 1994. The so‘m-coupon was introduced on 1 November 1993, and the national currency, the so‘m, on 1 July 1994. In transport, Uzbekistan Airways (1992) and Uzbekistan Railways (1994) were set up, the Navoi–Uchquduq–Nukus railway was finished in 2001, the high-speed “Afrosiyob” train began running between Tashkent and Samarkand in 2011, and a car plant opened at Asaka in 1996. In agriculture a law on peasant (farm) holdings was adopted in 1992 and a law on farms in 1998, and achieving grain independence became a stated goal.