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President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has begun a state visit to Azerbaijan aimed at deepening bilateral relations, the president’s press secretary reports.

During the trip, he will visit the cities of Baku, Khankendi, Shusha and Aghdam.

On the first day, the two presidents will hold the second meeting of the High Intergovernmental Council. They will also lay the foundation stone for Uzbekistan Park and open a new Uzbek embassy in Baku.

On the second day, Presidents Mirziyoyev and Ilham Aliyev will travel to the Karabakh region. There, they will visit a joint textile factory in Khankendi and the historic Imaret complex...

On June 30, a delegation from Uzbekistan led by Minister of Transport Ilkhom Makhkamov visited Kyrgyzstan’s Jalal-Abad region to inspect progress on the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway project.

During the visit, the delegation reviewed construction work at the Fergana and Kosh-Dobo tunnels. Each tunnel stretches over 12 kilometres and represents a major feat of engineering in the region’s mountainous terrain.

The delegation also examined plans and the construction site for a new railway station to be built in place of the existing Makmal station, as well as the proposed site for the future Jalal-Abad railway station.

June 30 marked the official...

On July 1st, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed proposals for Uzbekistan’s preparations ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, set to take place in Los Angeles, USA.

As highlighted during a national video conference on 13 February, where the President called for stronger efforts in Olympic development, Uzbekistan had achieved notable results at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris — finishing 13th in the overall medal standings at both events. That success has now laid the foundation for a far-reaching, long-term sports strategy.

A draft presidential decree has been prepared, setting out ten key priorities...

The World Boxing Cup: Kazakhstan – Astana 2025 launched on 30 June, drawing over 400 elite fighters from 31 nations to the Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov Martial Art Palace, World Boxing reports.

The week-long tournament, which runs until 6 July, follows a structure developed by World Boxing where athletes earn ranking points across multiple stages during the year. It features 20 Olympic-style weight categories — ten for men and ten for women — consistent with previous editions in Poland and Brazil.

The event aims to bring greater clarity and meaning to the boxing calendar and culminates in a final showdown between...

The Tashkent Stock Exchange has ambitious plans to expand Uzbekistan’s capital market, focusing on the bond market, individual investment accounts (IIAs) and high-profile IPOs.

«Our bond market is far too small for a country like Uzbekistan. In essence, it barely exists,» said George Paresishvili. He believes regulatory changes are needed: «At the moment, exchange-traded bonds are limited to a one-year maturity. That’s unattractive. If we allow longer terms, they will become more popular.»

The introduction of IIAs is expected to be a game-changer. Citizens will be able to invest up to 127 mln UZS per...

Today marks a key moment in Uzbekistan’s history — the anniversary of the adoption of its national emblem on July 2, 1992, as per the Government Portal of Uzbekistan. Approved by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the emblem has since become a powerful symbol of the nation’s identity, heritage, and aspirations.

At the heart of the emblem is the mythical bird Humo, wings spread wide to symbolize freedom and happiness. Celebrated in Uzbek folklore and praised by poet Alisher Navoi as the kindest of all creatures, the Humo represents the spirit and resilience of the Uzbek...

At the “Capital Market: New Opportunities for Investment” conference in Tashkent, George Paresishvili, Chairman of the Republican Stock Exchange (RSE) “Toshkent”, announced new efforts to develop Uzbekistan’s capital market by introducing simplified procedures for issuing bonds in the national currency.

According to Paresishvili, the initiative involves collaboration with major international financial institutions — including the EBRD, IFC, World Bank, and ADB — to launch local currency bonds as a complement to the sovereign bond market.

«There is stable global demand for mortgage-backed bonds. Together with regulators, we are working to enable international financial institutions to issue...

At the “Capital Market: New Opportunities for Investment” conference in Tashkent, Spartak Tetrashvili, Chairman of TBC Bank, addressed the critical role of bonds in Uzbekistan’s financial development and the challenges holding back their growth.

«Most people in Uzbekistan still don’t fully understand what a bond is,» Tetrashvili noted. «Many prefer to keep money under the mattress—or invest in livestock, seeing it as a safe and tangible asset.

He stressed that integrating these informal savings into the formal financial system is crucial for economic progress. The biggest obstacle? Low financial literacy.

“In...

At the «Capital Market: New Opportunities for Investment» conference in Tashkent, Karen Srapionov, Managing Partner at Avesta Investment Group, outlined several key obstacles to the growth of Uzbekistan’s securities market.

According to Srapionov, weak digital infrastructure remains one of the main barriers to increased securities trading activity in the country. He also pointed out a lack of modern financial instruments, which could otherwise attract younger investors to the market.

«There are still concerns about fraud risks,» he added, explaining why many entrepreneurs remain reluctant to invest in bonds or participate in stock trading.

The conference program includes four focused sessions:

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Kapitalbank’s long-term issuer default rating at B, while upgrading the outlook from “Stable” to “Positive”, citing Uzbekistan’s economic growth, the bank’s strong financial metrics, and solid client operations.

Over the past four years, Kapitalbank has demonstrated consistent profitability. In 2024, it doubled its lending to small and medium-sized businesses and expanded its portfolio of secured consumer loans, all while maintaining a cautious approach to credit risk and high asset quality.

“The upgraded outlook reflects our sustained efforts to diversify our loan portfolio, maintain strong profitability and asset quality and benefit from Uzbekistan’s favorable macroeconomic conditions,” said...

At the Capital Market: New Opportunities for Investment conference in Tashkent, Denis Sokolov, Partner and CEO of CWMP, outlined key trends and challenges facing Uzbekistan’s real estate market, calling for a shift from small-scale private investments to a more institutional approach.

«Without transforming the market from private, small-scale investments, where someone buys an apartment or office space, to a systemic, institutional model, nothing will fundamentally change,» said Sokolov.

He emphasised that further growth depends on banks becoming more engaged in professional property valuation, project financing, and offering mortgage lending under modernised standards.

Sokolov also touched...

As of mid-2025, 28 Kyrgyz enterprises have been newly added to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) export registry, bringing the total number of registered companies to 462, according to Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Agriculture.

The registered businesses include producers, processors and exporters of dairy, meat, fish, honey, poultry and other livestock products. Notable figures include:

In addition, six Kyrgyz companies have been approved to export livestock products to China, and 37 more are ready for certification, including 13 in dairy, 12 in...

«For years, market participants complained about the old Korean system. It lacked API access and didn’t allow data integration,» explained George Paresishvili, CEO at the Tashkent Stock Exchange. «But we took this seriously and after a lot of work, we finally managed to unlock what was considered an ‘unbreakable’ system.»

Bloomberg terminals can now display live data from the Uzbek exchange without delay. Anyone with access to Bloomberg can open the Uzbekistan page and see real-time figures.

This integration is seen as a key step in building international investor confidence. It enables better transparency, facilitates...

The Tashkent Stock Exchange celebrates its most successful year in its 30-year history. The CEO of Tashkent Stock Exchange, George Paresishvili shares achievements of the institution for the past year.

«In the past year, we reached a trading volume of about 2 trln UZS — that’s over 170 mln USD. This is an all-time record for our exchange,» states George Paresishvili.

The institution also recorded 500 thousand transactions in 2024, following a 400% increase in 2023 compared to 2022.

One of the key drivers behind this expansion is digitalisation. «Mobile applications like Chat and...

On July 1, the capital of Uzbekistan hosted the opening of the business conference Capital Market: New Opportunities for Investment, organised by Kursiv Uzbekistan. The event, streamed online via Zoom, brought together investors, regulators and business leaders to discuss the transformation of Uzbekistan’s financial landscape.

Opening the event, Anastasiya Novikova, CEO of Kursiv Uzbekistan, emphasised the importance of discussing investments during the quieter summer season.

«We deliberately chose the summer: yes, half of Tashkent is on vacation, but this is the best time to talk about investments. While you rest, your money keeps working.»

She...

At the opening panel of the Capital Market: New Investment Opportunities conference in Tashkent, experts explored the shifting focus of investors — with Uzbekistan investment emerging as a standout opportunity among emerging markets.

Karen Srapionov, Managing Partner at Avesta Investment Group, opened the session by noting that while the local capital market in Uzbekistan is expanding rapidly, the majority of funding still comes from strategic foreign investors. He stressed the importance of clearly positioning the country for the global investment community.

Mansurjon Rasulev, Director of the Agency for Foreign Investment Attraction, emphasized that foreign investors in Uzbekistan are drawn by...

Uzbekistan is set to become the fastest-growing telecom market in the CIS over the next three years, according to a new joint study by Nexign and TelecomDaily available to Kursiv Uzbekistan. While other CIS countries are expected to grow at a rate of 4–6% annually, Uzbekistan’s telecom sector is projected to expand by an average of 12.7% per year, driven by 5G deployment, infrastructure modernization and digital service expansion.

Market Growth and Key Drivers

From 2020 to 2024, Uzbekistan’s telecom market doubled in size, reaching 20.9 trln soums. Despite a slight slowdown in 2024 due to market saturation in...

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a decree to introduce digital and automated services across Uzbekistan’s treasury and pension systems, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The government plans to set up compact regional service offices and shift all pension and treasury-related services to electronic and proactive formats.

The Digital Treasury system will launch nationwide from July 2026. From December 1 of the same year, the pension system will undergo full automation. As part of the reforms, a new service called My Pension will be introduced, allowing users to calculate their future pension based on employment history and salary data.

From...

Most high-liquidity stocks listed on the Republican Stock Exchange “Toshkent” showed mixed performance between June 23 and 27, while the Uzbekistan Composite Index (UCI) rose by 0.24%.

? Top Gainers:

? Top Decliners:

Some stocks, such as SQB and Aloqabank, remained unchanged in value during the week.

? Trading Activity Highlights:

During a meeting with young citizens, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasised the urgent need to improve youth education in Uzbekistan, calling on training centers to focus on professional skills and foreign language education.

He highlighted that Uzbekistan currently has 15,000 educational centers and 7,500 vocational training organizations, which have received over 100 government incentives in recent years.

Mirziyoyev stressed the importance of expanding and modernizing these institutions to align with the country’s vision for a New Uzbekistan, where youth employment and qualified workforce development are national priorities.

«Hokims must treat every child as their...

Russian animation studio Soyuzmultfilm has submitted an application to register the ‘Chebubu’ trademark, according to RIA Novosti, citing the Rospatent database.

The application was filed on June 27 and indicates that the company plans to use the name for a wide range of products, from children’s cosmetics and toys to stationery and musical instruments. In total, the brand covers 45 product categories.

Experts note that registering a broad list of goods is a standard strategy for large media studios. It helps protect the brand name early on, enabling development across various sectors, from animated content to merchandise and digital...

Uzbek students who are admitted to one of the world’s top 300 universities will now be eligible for compensation of tuition and living expenses, according to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The announcement was made during his recent meeting with youth.

The updated policy will be implemented through the El-Yurt Umidi Foundation and applies to students at the bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels.

Special emphasis is placed on developing expertise in fields that are strategic for Uzbekistan’s future, with expanded quotas for international study in STEM, energy, transport, architecture, construction, urban planning and agriculture and water management.

In addition, students...

Uzbekistan is preparing a draft resolution aimed at combating the shadow economy, which includes a phased transition to cashless payments for real estate transactions, according to Mubin Mirzayev, First Deputy Chairman of the Tax Committee.

Currently, most property sales are conducted in cash or through payment services, making them difficult to monitor and contributing to informal reporting. The new system would require all transactions to be processed through banks, ensuring legal compliance and improved transparency, Mirzayev told senators.

The draft resolution focuses on promoting cashless payments and the legalisation of salary payments. It has already been approved by relevant...

Cristiano Ronaldo has signed one of the most lucrative contracts in sports history with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr. According to SportBible, the Portuguese star’s two-year deal is valued at £500 mln — roughly $635 mln or 8 trln UZS.

Key Contract Details:

Performance Bonuses: