New financial assistance programs introduced in Uzbekistan for entrepreneurship and employment

A new set of financial assistance programs has been introduced in Uzbekistan, aimed at boosting entrepreneurship and addressing poverty. This is part of the Presidential Decree “On Additional Measures to Improve the System of Allocating Financial Assistance to Attract the Population to Entrepreneurship and Ensure Employment,” adopted on February 14.

Under the new resolution, various forms of financial support will be made available to citizens under the “From Poverty to Prosperity” program. These include:

- Subsidies up to 10 times the minimum wage for citizens who have served prison sentences, aimed at implementing specific projects in fields like entrepreneurship, architecture, and handicrafts.
- Interest-free loans up to 10 times the minimum wage for entrepreneurs hiring unemployed citizens or poor family members as homemakers who want to become self-employed. The loans will cover working capital for up to 3 years.
- Interest-free loans for poor families, ranging from 6 months to 3 years, offering amounts up to 50 times the minimum wage to purchase necessary equipment for starting a business.
- Interest-free loans for poor families, up to 5 years in duration and up to 200 times the minimum wage with a 6-month grace period, for establishing farms, including drilling water wells, purchasing pumping units, and installing irrigation and electricity systems.
- Grants for entrepreneurs sharing expertise with up to 10 poor families in neighborhoods to help them generate a permanent income. These grants will range from 3 times the minimum wage, up to 30 times the minimum wage for each supported family.

Notably, the government will replace subsidies with interest-free loans for members of families listed in the Unified Register of Social Protection and the Register of Poor Families to encourage entrepreneurship and support the acquisition of necessary business equipment.