SEZ residency in Uzbekistan: application, benefits and duties

Special economic zone (SEZ) participant status is granted to a legal entity established by an investor after project selection, registration in the zone, execution of an investment agreement and entry in the register. The application is reviewed within 10 business days (Art. 27 SEZ Law), and the one-time fee is 45 BRV (para. 26 Regulation), where BRV means the base calculation unit.

In brief:

• First choose an operating SEZ and check whether its specialisation, the project type and the proposed site are compatible
• Submit an application, a business plan or feasibility study, a draft investment agreement and corporate documents to the directorate
• A favourable decision alone does not activate relief: a legal entity in the zone, a signed agreement, the paid fee and an entry in the register are all required
• Before filing, reconcile the business plan with the project criteria, prohibitions, infrastructure and realistic investment timetable, because the directorate will later monitor those terms

Updated: 05 September 2026

SEZ status and eligible projects

What does SEZ participant status provide

The status links a particular legal entity, investment project and zone territory. An SEZ is a territory with defined boundaries (Art. 3 SEZ Law) where a special legal regime applies to attract investment and develop business. Registering a company next to a zone or contracting with one of its participants is therefore not a substitute for entry in the participant register.

The Law provides for five types of SEZ (Art. 9 SEZ Law):

• free economic zones;
• special science and technology zones;
• tourism and recreational zones;
• free trade zones;
• special industrial zones.

A particular SEZ is generally established for up to 30 years (Art. 20 SEZ Law), with a possible extension. This is the term of the zone itself, not automatically the relief period for every participant. For an investor, the material dates are the term of the investment agreement, the certificate date, the amount actually invested and the date when the facility is commissioned.

Who can become an SEZ participant

The applicant is the investor, but the participant is the legal entity it establishes and registers or re-registers at the SEZ location. The project must satisfy the general requirements (Art. 15 SEZ Law): town-planning and construction rules, technical regulation, environmental requirements, occupational health and industrial safety, the zone’s specialisation, confirmed funding sources and current energy-efficiency requirements.

Additional criteria depend on the type of zone. In a free economic zone, a project must generally produce a new product or one that is insufficiently represented in the domestic market, change the four-digit Commodity Nomenclature code, or create at least 30 per cent (Art. 16 SEZ Law) of added value. The restriction relating to a saturated domestic market does not apply to projects whose entire output is exported.

A science and technology project must be based on patent rights (Art. 17 SEZ Law) and satisfy the novelty and research-intensity criteria. A tourism and recreational project must include tourist facilities and tourist safety measures (Art. 18 SEZ Law), including surveillance, danger warnings and emergency assistance. The rules of a particular zone may further define its sector specialisation.

Which projects are prohibited in an SEZ

Even a commercially strong project will not pass selection if its activity falls within the complete list of prohibitions (Art. 19 SEZ Law):

• production that fails environmental, occupational health, industrial safety or sanitary requirements;
• manufacture of weapons and ammunition, nuclear materials or radioactive substances;
• manufacture of alcohol or tobacco products;
• processing of raw hides, livestock slaughter and other expressly listed operations involving animal raw materials;
• production of cement, concrete, clinker, bricks, reinforced-concrete slabs, coal, lime or gypsum;
• processing, decomposition, incineration, gasification, chemical treatment, storage or burial of waste;
• construction of oil refineries and nuclear power plants, nuclear facilities or radiation sources.

The prohibited-activity list applies separately from licensing. If an activity permitted in an SEZ requires a licence or permit, participant status does not replace it.

The separate licences and permits are covered in Business licences. Consult it after confirming that the project is admissible in the SEZ but before starting a regulated activity.

Documents, application and costs

Which documents are required

The directorate assesses both the corporate documents and the feasibility of the project. The application package (Art. 26 SEZ Law) includes:

• the investor’s application;
• a copy of the constitutional document and, for a foreign legal entity, its state-registration document;
• a business plan or feasibility study;
• a draft investment agreement;
• tax-registration information;
• where a site or building is needed, proposals for the starting price of the lease right or the rent.

As a general rule, a foreign investor’s documents must be legalised and supplied with a notarised translation into the state language and English. An apostille or an international treaty may provide a different procedure. The form asks, among other things (Regulation form), for the product and Commodity Nomenclature code, capacity, exports and domestic sales, taxes, inputs and localisation, standards, jobs, land, infrastructure, funding, investment timetable and payback period. This information should match the draft agreement.

How to obtain SEZ participant status

An application may be filed through a Public Services Centre, the Single Portal of Interactive Public Services (EPIGU), or directly with the directorate. A direct application may be filed on paper or by post (paras. 4–7 Regulation). The directorate operates as a one-stop shop (Art. 24 SEZ Law): it accepts and evaluates projects, keeps the register, issues certificates, arranges the allocation of land and monitors agreements.

The procedure consists of several legally distinct steps:

1. The directorate registers and reviews the application.
2. The expert commission evaluates the project and records its decision in minutes.
3. After a favourable decision, the investor receives an extract; it is the basis for an auction (Art. 28 SEZ Law), a lease and an agreement.
4. The investor registers or re-registers the legal entity at an address in the zone.
5. The investor and the directorate sign the investment agreement.
6. After payment of the fee, the directorate enters the legal entity in the register and issues a certificate.

If the project does not meet the requirements, the materials are returned with reasoned comments rather than permanently barring a new application. The package can be filed again after correction. The Administrative Regulation identifies false or distorted information as the ground for refusal and prohibits refusal on other grounds. After documents are returned, the defects may be corrected and the application refiled within 30 days (para. 12 Regulation).

The corrected project is reviewed within 5 business days (para. 13 Regulation). The directorate must not raise new comments on matters it examined during the first review. An adverse decision may be appealed through the prescribed procedure.

How long registration takes and what it costs

The statutory timeframe is made up of stages and does not end with the review of the business plan. The Regulation sets the following sequence:

The investment agreement must be signed within 3 business days (Art. 34 SEZ Law) after the extract is received if the investor already owns the site or is leasing an unused building, or after the auction winner is determined. The agreement takes effect not upon signature but when the legal entity acquires participant status.

After the agreement is signed and the fee is paid, the directorate enters the company in the register within 2 business days (Art. 29 SEZ Law), issues a certificate with a QR code and notifies the tax, customs and statistics authorities.

Example. The one-time fee is 45 BRV. With one BRV currently equal to 440.000 soum, the calculation is 45 × 440.000 = 19.800.000 soum. This is a separate payment to the directorate; it does not include land or building rent, expert reviews, network connection or licensing costs.

Land, infrastructure and benefits

How land and infrastructure are provided

An available project site is generally allocated through an electronic online auction. The winner obtains the right to conclude a lease (Art. 7 SEZ Law) and an investment agreement, with the lease terms included in the agreement. A favourable commission decision does not guarantee an auction win, so the land and construction timetable should make allowance for the auction.

A participant may require timely connection to the engineering, utility and transport infrastructure included in the zone development programme. It may build infrastructure with its own funds; reimbursement of those costs (Art. 6 SEZ Law) is possible only with Cabinet of Ministers approval. Reimbursement should therefore not be treated in advance as an unconditional funding source for the project.

For newly created zones, sites are leased for up to 49 years but no longer than the term of the zone. If a participant, without a valid reason, has not started performing its obligations within 6 months after selection, the lease is terminated and the site and buildings on it are returned to the directorate.

The auction, land category, design and construction permits are explained in Land and construction. Consult it before fixing the site area, utilities and construction timetable in the SEZ business plan.

Which tax and customs reliefs apply

Participant status does not provide a universal exemption from every tax. Participants are exempt from corporate property tax and land tax for a period based on the investment amount, while the special corporate income tax treatment depends on the date when status was obtained. These reliefs apply only to project activities (Art. 473 Tax Code).

The special regime is established by law or a Presidential decision and applies only to activities within the zone. A foreign participant enjoys the same rights (Art. 37 SEZ Law), guarantees and reliefs. The company’s other activities remain under the general regime, so income, expenses and assets must be separated.

For participants that obtained status before 1 April 2026, the period of the former corporate income tax relief depends on the investment:

The property and land tax exemptions start in the month when the certificate is issued. The income tax relief or accelerated depreciation right starts when the facility is commissioned (Art. 474 Tax Code). If the investment is increased, the period may be extended within the relevant tier.

Example. If a participant obtained status before 1 April 2026, invested USD 4 million and commissioned the facility on 15 July, the corporate income tax relief period is 3 years and runs from commissioning. Status and the certificate alone do not start that period before commissioning.

The special customs regime may temporarily exempt or reduce customs payments and relax non-tariff restrictions. It does not apply to transit (Art. 38 SEZ Law) and must not create an anti-competitive environment.

Separate exemptions, with expressly stated exceptions, apply to imported construction materials included in the project, equipment without domestic equivalents and inputs for export goods. Import VAT may be deferred for up to 120 days (Art. 39 SEZ Law), while excess VAT may be refunded under a simplified procedure within 7 days. Before importing, the participant should reconcile the goods, Commodity Nomenclature code, approved list and purpose of import with the investment project.

If tax legislation changes, a participant may apply the rules that were in force when it entered the register for the relief period, but for no more than 10 years (Art. 42 SEZ Law). This stabilisation does not cover rules governing the taxation of excisable goods.

Import procedures, declarations and the free customs zone are covered in Importing goods and Customs clearance. Consult them before ordering equipment or inputs, because participant status does not cure an incorrect commodity code or customs procedure.

Obligations, extension and loss of status

What obligations does a participant have

A participant may use the reliefs, lease land and buildings, build its own infrastructure, obtain directorate services and require performance of the specified utility obligations. It must also comply with the law and investment agreement, implement the project and submit reports (Art. 30 SEZ Law). Its rights and obligations may not be transferred to another person before completion of the project.

If the company carries on both relieved and ordinary activities, it must maintain separate accounting (Art. 80 Tax Code) of income and expenses using the direct method or, where direct allocation is impossible, the proportional method. In practice, this means separate analytical accounts for the project, assets, personnel, imports and sales.

Environmental approval remains a separate obligation. For the objects specified by law, environmental review is mandatory (Art. 11 Environmental Review Law), and without a favourable opinion they may not be financed or implemented (Art. 22 Environmental Review Law). The SEZ commission’s decision does not replace the environmental opinion, construction permits or a sector licence.

How to extend the investment agreement

The agreement is not extended automatically when the term of the zone is extended. A participant must submit an application and a business plan containing an economic justification to the directorate at least one month (Art. 35 SEZ Law) before the investment agreement expires.

The justification should show the investment already made, targets achieved, work remaining, revised funding timetable and expected result. If the deadline is missed, preserving the special regime after the expiry date is uncertain: the agreement ends when its term expires, when status is lost, when the zone is liquidated early and in other specified circumstances (Art. 36 SEZ Law).

When a participant loses status

Status does not end only when the company is liquidated. The Law gives a complete list of grounds (Art. 31 SEZ Law):

• liquidation of the SEZ itself;
• liquidation of the participating legal entity;
• change of the participant’s location to a place outside the SEZ;
• failure to perform the investment agreement;
• voluntary withdrawal;
• reorganisation of the participant, except a merger or acquisition between participants with the same relief regime.

If the directorate identifies a breach of the agreement, it draws up a report and sets a cure period of no more than 90 days (Art. 32 SEZ Law). If the breach is not cured, the directorate gives notice of termination. The participant has 10 days to apply to court; after that, unilateral termination, cancellation of reliefs and full recovery of unpaid tax and customs payments are possible.

Voluntary withdrawal also requires a directorate decision. The application is reviewed within 10 days (Art. 33 SEZ Law), or 30 days if withdrawal may cause loss to the state. If there is no such loss, the company and its property may remain in the territory, but participant status and the special regime end.

Changes and application checks

What changed in 2025–2026

• Law No. ZRU-1108 of 25.12.2025 took effect on 1 January 2026 and amended the tax treatment of SEZ participants.
• The same Law provides that, for companies obtaining status from 1 April 2026, the former corporate income tax relief is replaced by accelerated depreciation. Its period continues to depend on the amount invested.
• Accelerated depreciation reduces the tax base only to the extent of the tax base generated. The right applies for no more than 3 years (Art. 306 Tax Code); specified assets and transactions are excluded, and early disposal restores the tax base.
• From 2027, conditions for property and land tax exemptions apply based on the 2026 results. They require, at the same time, income exceeding the relief used, a monthly salary for every employee of at least 2 MROT (Art. 75 Tax Code), where MROT is the minimum wage, and an average annual headcount of at least 3. Participants that obtained status before 1 January 2026 are excluded from those conditions; the application date was set by Law No. ZRU-1108 of 25.12.2025.

Example. A company obtained status after 1 April 2026. The residual value of qualifying equipment is UZS 20 billion, while its tax base before accelerated depreciation is UZS 6 billion. The current-period reduction is limited to the base: the company may use UZS 6 billion, not the full UZS 20 billion. The balance is accounted for within the period and rules of Article 306 of the Tax Code. This is an illustrative calculation; the actual amount depends on the assets, commissioning date and tax records.

What to check before applying

Start with the project, not the corporate documents. Ask the directorate to confirm the specialisation of the selected SEZ, the availability of a suitable site or building, utility capacity and its funding method. Then compare the product and Commodity Nomenclature code with the zone criteria, exclude prohibited activities and separate the relieved activity from the rest of the business.

Use the same investment, construction, equipment commissioning, hiring and production timetable in the business plan and the draft investment agreement. Check whether the schedule allows time for the auction, re-registration, environmental review, construction and licences. Model the tax treatment separately by the expected status date: before or after 1 April 2026.

Before signing, state measurable obligations of the directorate and investor: the site, utilities, connection capacity, term, investment amount, jobs, output and reporting. This checklist helps assess not only whether status can be obtained but also whether it can be retained after the project starts.

Frequently asked questions

Can a foreign company immediately become an SEZ participant?

A foreign investor may submit a project, but status is granted to a legal entity established and registered or re-registered at the SEZ location. Foreign corporate documents generally require legalisation and a notarised translation into the state language and English, unless an apostille or an international treaty provides otherwise. After the favourable decision, company registration, the agreement, the fee and entry in the register remain necessary.

Does a favourable commission decision activate the reliefs?

No. The extract from a favourable decision is the basis for the land auction, lease and investment agreement. Relief status arises after the legal entity is registered or re-registered in the zone, the agreement is signed, the fee is paid and the entity is entered in the register. For particular tax reliefs, the month when the certificate is issued or the date when the facility is commissioned also matters.

Can a project be refiled after it is returned?

Yes. If the project or documents do not meet the requirements, the directorate returns the package with reasoned comments. The investor may remedy the defects and refile within the prescribed period. The corrected project is reviewed more quickly, and new comments on matters already examined are not allowed. False or distorted information is a separate ground for refusal, so both the form and the supporting calculations must be corrected.

Do SEZ reliefs cover all of the company’s business?

No. Reliefs apply to activities under the investment agreement and within the SEZ. Other operations of the company remain under the general tax regime. Separate records of income, expenses, assets and imported goods are required. Without those records, it is difficult to substantiate the relief and calculate amounts that may be recovered if status is lost.

Can the company remain after voluntarily leaving the SEZ?

Yes. If withdrawal does not cause loss to the state, the legal entity and its property may remain in the territory. The register entry, certificate and special regime nevertheless end. Before applying, the participant should calculate taxes, customs payments and the consequences for the lease and investment-agreement obligations, because voluntary withdrawal does not cancel liabilities that have already arisen.