Russian Marketplace Acquires State Stake in UzPost

A Russian e-commerce platform has purchased the government’s stake in UzPost, according to Gazeta.uz, which cited industry sources.

As of October 13, it remains unclear which Russian marketplace acquired the share in Uzbekistan’s postal operator. However, several reports indicate that Wildberries may have taken part in the privatisation.

Kursiv Uzbekistan has sent inquiries to the State Asset Management Agency (UzSAMA) and to Wildberries’ press office for clarification.

According to data from the Unified State Register of Enterprises (USREO) as of October 13, 100% of UzPost’s shares are now distributed among various shareholders, although no detailed breakdown has been disclosed.

Earlier plans had called for the privatisation of a 29.4% stake in UzPost, previously owned by Aloqabank. Yet over the summer, Aloqabank, the Ministry of Economy, and several related legal entities were removed from the list of affiliated parties.

They were replaced by UzSAMA, the National Investment Fund, and several other institutions.

UzPost’s financial report for the second quarter of this year shows a net profit exceeding 442.7 mln soums ($36,463) and revenue of 378.1 bn soums ($31.1 mln). The company’s authorised capital stands at more than 38 bn soums ($3.1 mln).

Kursiv also reports that in March of this year Wildberries faced a tax audit in Uzbekistan.