Uzbek president instructs to distribute land to fight unemployment

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has made a decision to kill two birds with one stone. During a video conference on Tuesday, he ordered the leasing of agricultural land to unemployed citizens. This, according to Mirziyoyev, on the one hand, would contribute to the development of agriculture, on the other, to the creation of new jobs.

For this purpose, starting this year, almost 100,000 hectares of land released from grain crops will be provided to the unemployed for the creation of farms. After the cotton harvest, an additional 100,000 hectares of land will be released for this purpose.

“Providing land to youth was an experiment. Now we are moving to a larger system. We transfer the land to the real owners, i.e., the people. Mayors, sector managers need to determine which areas for cotton and grain will be reduced, and grant them to the unemployed. And it is important to observe justice in doing so. This will provide hundreds of thousands of people with jobs and earnings," said Mirziyoyev.

On the same day, he inked a decree intended to provide transparency in land relations, turning the land into a market asset.

Thus, the government is planning to abolish the practice of direct and gratuitous provision of land for entrepreneurship. From now on, the land is to be sold as property or leased on the same and transparent terms through an electronic auction. All powers of the mayors of districts and cities related to the allocation and return of land have been abolished.

The stability of food prices was another issue on the agenda of the meeting.

- Lowering prices does not mean forcing entrepreneurs and livestock breeders to sell their products at a low cost. First of all, it is necessary to increase the supply on the market, " Mirziyoyev noted.

Particular attention, according to him, should be paid to areas that yield high results in a short time. One of these industries is poultry farming.

Mirziyoyev added: “To gain 1 kilogram of weight, a bird needs 1.7 kilograms of feed, while cattle needs 8 kilograms. Uzbekistan produces little poultry meat and eggs per capita”.

The size of subsidies for the production of eggs is to be increased by 3 times, for the procurement of poultry meat by twice. Producers of feed and poultry products would enjoy reimbursement of part of the loans received for working capital replenishment and implementation of poultry projects.

The government is to compensate part of the cost of projects aimed at the creation of modern complexes for poultry cutting. The tax rates on profits, property, land and water for poultry enterprises would be reduced by 50%.

The state would also allocate $50mn through Microkreditbank for the implementation of relevant projects.