Uzbekistan Diagnostic Assessing Progress and Challenges in

Complaints of entrepreneurs
: "Disconnections without warning, the voltage in the network does not 
correspond to 220V.", "3 times a week the light turns off, the chocolate melts in the cooling tunnel"," due to 
power and gas cut-offs in the autumn-winter period, the line stops"," light and gas are often switched off in 
winter, the production is standing, the room is cold "," when the light switches off, newly imported machines 
break down, there is a risk of quality loss” 
Frequent disconnections, low voltage in the network or lack of access to electricity and gas supply are key 
obstacles for business development and improvement of living standards in many regions. 
 
The regional development of Uzbekistan has been uneven
. Average GDP per capita in 
2017 was 7761 sum, according to Statistics Committee data. At the same time it was only 
4,389 in the Dzhizak region, but 12,962 in the developed Navoi region, and 15,806 in 
Tashkent city. Rural development, with private agribusiness at the core, will be of high 
importance to let transition and private sector development reach also remote areas.
Education, health care and labour market reforms are required for providing the 
private sector with a qualified labour force and for making Uzbekistan’s transition to a 
sustainable market economy inclusive
. Life in Transition Survey data show that as many as 
32 per cent of Uzbek respondents think that the main priority for additional government 
spending should be health care, followed by education (25 per cent) and assisting the poor 
(18 per cent). 
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The EBRD is conducting the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) in partnership 
with the World Bank. BEPPS IV was published in 2009, BEEPS V in 2014. The BEEPS is a firm-level survey based 
on face-to-face interviews with managers. It examines the quality of the business environment. Five rounds of 
the survey have so far been implemented (1999, 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2012-14).

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