In Uzbekistan, businesses will be allowed to pay half the fine and will be prohibited from revising privatization results.

On August 8, the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan approved a law designed to strengthen guarantees for freedom of entrepreneurship and improve business support mechanisms.

The document amends a number of legislative acts, establishing additional guarantees for entrepreneurs, forms of state support, rules for the application of financial sanctions, inspection requirements, and guarantees of property rights.

The Law "On Guarantees of Freedom of Entrepreneurial Activity" will include a separate article outlining the key principles of such guarantees: legality, freedom of entrepreneurship, equality of business entities, protection of trust, inadmissibility of corruption, inviolability of private property, and stability and certainty of legislation.

At the same time, the classification of businesses by annual income is being clarified:

* **Microfirms:** enterprises founded by individuals, with an annual income of up to 1 billion soums.

* **Small businesses:** with an income of 1 billion to 10 billion soums.

* **Medium businesses:** enterprises with an income of 10 billion to 100 billion soums.

* **Large businesses:** from 100 billion soums.

One of the key changes concerns the enforcement of decisions by regulatory authorities to impose financial sanctions. Entrepreneurs can voluntarily comply with such a decision in one of two ways:

1. **Pay 50% of the fine:** If 50% of the fine is paid within one month of receiving the decision, the entrepreneur is exempt from paying the remaining half.

2. **Installment plan:** A six-month installment plan. To do this, an initial payment of at least 1/6 of the fine must be made within the first month. Senator Erkin Gadoev noted that the installment payment procedure will be applied automatically, without the need for a separate application.

The law also stipulates that the imposition of financial liability on the business entity itself for violating the law should not automatically serve as grounds for holding its employee administratively liable.

Another important section concerns the Unified Register of Mandatory Requirements in Entrepreneurship. It will be an open database containing all requirements imposed on businesses, including the validity periods of requirements, the documents required to confirm compliance, state oversight regulations, and penalties for violations. A representative of the Ministry of Justice reported that approximately 42,000 mandatory requirements have already been added to the registry. Furthermore, the law enshrines the principle that government and regulatory bodies will not be able to impose requirements on businesses that are not included in the registry.

The law stipulates that any initiating by government bodies of a review or annulment of privatization results will be considered a violation of the inviolability of private property. This applies, in particular, to the review of the value of privatized assets, appraisal results, and expert assessments of the accuracy of appraisal reports. Government, regulatory, and law enforcement agencies, as well as the courts, will not be able to initiate a review, invalidation, or annulment of these results. Such cases, according to the document, should not be accepted for review. Senator Erkin Gadoev emphasized that this serves to ensure the inviolability of property.

The law also defines the grounds for suspending an entrepreneur's activities. Businesses will be able to temporarily suspend operations upon their own request. Regulatory authorities will be able to suspend operations for no more than 10 business days; for longer periods, only a court order will be issued. Furthermore, it is proposed that regulatory authorities be allowed to suspend business operations only in the presence of factors included in a special register of factors posing a high risk to human life and health. In other cases, regulatory authorities will not be able to suspend entrepreneurs' activities.

The law specifically enshrines guarantees of entrepreneurs' rights to land, water (within water quotas and limits), and connection to energy sources. Energy suppliers will be required to meet businesses' energy needs safely, reliably, stably, and without interruption.

The seizure of an entrepreneur's land plot for public needs is permitted only after full compensation for losses stipulated by law. Compensation must include the market value of the property located on the site, the market value of the land title, the value of perennial plantings, relocation costs and temporary rental of another property, lost profits from the use of the site and property, as well as other expenses and damages stipulated by law or agreement.

The Senate stated that the law should strengthen guarantees for entrepreneurs' rights and more clearly define the legal basis for state support for businesses.

The document also enshrines the concept of social entrepreneurship—business activities aimed at solving social and environmental problems or mitigating their consequences. A representative of the Ministry of Justice stated that this provision will allow for more active use of the private sector's capabilities to address social issues, integrating social goals with entrepreneurial and market mechanisms. He noted that similar mechanisms are regulated in other countries as well. For example, South Korea has adopted a separate law on the development of social entrepreneurship, and in Kazakhstan, relevant provisions are enshrined in the Entrepreneurial Code.

The law provides for six main forms of state support for social entrepreneurship. In general, business support mechanisms include financial and in-kind assistance, subsidies, grant financing, preferential loans, and tax and other mandatory payment incentives. The law specifically stipulates that financial and in-kind support measures must comply with World Trade Organization requirements.