Area per employee in government organizations will be reduced twofold

State-owned real estate assets in Uzbekistan will be gradually transferred to a unified management system, and the average area allocated per employee will be reduced from 27 square meters to 12–15 square meters. This was announced on April 6 during a presentation to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on proposals aimed at reducing the state’s share in the economy.

According to the report, significant progress has been made in recent years in developing the private sector and attracting investment. Currently, the state’s share in the economy stands at 42 percent, while the number of state-owned enterprises totals 1,685. In particular, last year nearly 30 trillion soums worth of state assets were privatized, generating more than 10 trillion soums in budget revenues. The volume of land sales also increased, reaching 6 trillion soums.

A system to incentivize privatization has been introduced, leaving 2.6 trillion soums at the regional level and 7 billion soums at the mahalla level. State-owned enterprises, in turn, contributed 49 trillion soums to the budget. Overall, over the past five years, the number of state-owned enterprises has decreased by 60 percent due to privatization.

The meeting, held in a critical tone, also highlighted a number of issues that still need to be addressed in the sector.

In particular, it was noted that artificial intelligence capabilities are not being sufficiently utilized in the system for analyzing state-owned enterprises. A total of 451 enterprises with deteriorating financial conditions incurred losses of 14 trillion soums in 2024, while 362 enterprises reported losses of 4 trillion soums last year.

In addition, it was pointed out that opportunities to use state property more efficiently and to bring idle space into economic circulation are not being fully utilized in the regions. In this regard, proposals were made to gradually transfer state-owned real estate assets to a unified management system and to reduce the average space allocated per employee from 27 square meters to 12–15 square meters. This is expected to bring 4.9 million square meters of space into economic circulation, lease or sell vacant buildings, and reduce maintenance and utility costs.

Information was also provided on preparations for the privatization of major assets, including “UzAuto Motors” and its subsidiaries, “Navoiyazot,” and thermal power plants.

A proposal was put forward to establish a digital technology project office within the State Assets Management Agency. Under this system, all privatization processes will be monitored online, and artificial intelligence elements will be introduced into the financial analysis of state-owned enterprises and the distribution of revenues.

The head of state gave relevant instructions to accelerate the reduction of the state’s share in the economy, ensure the efficient use of assets, and speed up privatization processes based on modern approaches.

It is worth noting that earlier reports indicated that new benefits would be introduced for conscripted military personnel in Uzbekistan when applying for higher education.