Guide to tax and legal issues

2.2.1. Joint stock companies (JSCs)
A JSC is a legal entity that is separate 
and distinct from its shareholders. As a 
general rule, a JSC’s shareholders are 
not liable for the JSC’s liabilities. A JSC 
may have one or more shareholders.
Generally, there is no minimum charter 
capital requirement for a JSC. However, 
regulations governing certain activities 
normally subject to licensing (e.g. 
banking and insurance activities) set out 
minimum capital requirements for JSCs. 
Since establishing a JSC is a very 
time-consuming and highly regulated 
process, investors usually prefer to opt 
for an LLC when deciding on their form 
of presence in Uzbekistan. However, 
for certain types of businesses (such 
as banks) the JSC is the only available 
vehicle for establishing a presence in 
Uzbekistan.

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Doing business in Uzbekistan
2.2.2. Limited liability companies 
(LLCs)
Like a JSC, an LLC is a legal entity in 
which the participants are not liable for 
the company’s liabilities and bear the risk 
of losses from the company’s activities 
only to the extent of their contributions 
to the charter capital. An LLC may 
have one or more participants. An LLC 
may not be established by one entity 
that in turn has only one shareholder/
participant, unless the former entity is a 
JSC.
The main difference between these two 
types of entities is that an LLC does not 
issue shares. Instead, participants have 
ownership (participating) interests in 
the company. In addition, LLC may, as an 
alternative fund-raising option (besides 
equity-based financing), issue bonds 
subject to similar requirements as those 
set for bonds issued by JSCs.
As a general rule, as in the case of a JSC, 
there is no minimum capital requirement 
for an LLC. However, regulations 
governing certain activities normally 
subject to licensing (e.g. insurance 
activities) may require LLCs to comply 
with the minimum capital requirements 
for those specific types of business.