A loan from Wildberries, trust management, and privatization. What the head of the SAMA said about UzPost

**Loan from Wildberries, trust management, and privatization. What the head of SAMA said about UzPost**

The Director of the State Assets Management Agency (SAMA), Sokhibjon Murodov, at a press conference on October 8, answering journalists' questions, explained why representatives of the Russian marketplace joined the company's supervisory board and commented on reports regarding its transfer to trust management.

According to him, UzPost shareholders were previously invited to consider raising 100 billion soums at 14% per annum. However, no decision was made: SAMA representatives doubted the economic justification of such conditions.

"We raised the question: if you are raising money at 14%, on which areas will you spend it? How long will it take for them to pay off? Will these investments justify themselves? Won't it turn out that the funds will be squandered and another debt will arise?" the head of the agency said.

After that, the postal operator resumed negotiations with partners under different financing terms.

"Now we are at the stage of preliminary agreements. The issue of raising 360 billion soums is being considered, but interest-free. This does not mean that the company will immediately receive the entire amount. A credit line for 360 billion soums will be opened. As much as is needed, so much will be taken. Perhaps these funds will not be needed at all," Murodov explained.

He stressed that the necessity of each purchase and the efficiency of using the attracted funds will be evaluated separately.

Murodov also commented on the updated composition of the UzPost supervisory board, which included five representatives of Wildberries, securing a majority of nine seats.

According to him, they were invited in connection with the proposed interest-free financing and the intention to use the marketplace's experience to develop the national postal operator.

"The supervisory board does not interfere directly in the financial and operational activities of the company. It participates only in strategic decision-making. The executive body remained unchanged. The shareholder has not changed either," the head of SAMA stated.

He noted that cooperation with Wildberries involves developing a strategy for the development of the postal service and increasing the efficiency of using borrowed funds.

"We want to use their experience… That is why we involved representatives of the company in the supervisory board. But this is a contract for a specific term. If it yields results, the cooperation will continue. If there are no results, we will consider other management methods," Murodov said.

The head of the agency stressed that Wildberries is not the only partner of UzPost. The postal operator also collaborates with the Uzbek ecosystem Uzum.

According to him, across the country UzPost has more than 1,600 service and delivery points located, among other places, in remote areas and mahallas. Through most of them, Uzum and Wildberries also deliver their goods.

"If you go even to a remote mahalla and ask where the post office is, people know its location. They have been used to it for many years. This is attractive for both Uzum and Wildberries," he noted.

Murodov admitted that insufficient public information about cooperation with private companies became one of the reasons for the questions surrounding the future of UzPost.

Answering a direct question from a Kun.uz journalist about the possible transfer of the national postal operator to Wildberries on the basis of a classified document, the head of SAMA stated that there is no active trust management agreement.

"To date, there is no trust management agreement. There is only a cooperation agreement. It cannot be directly called trust management," he stressed.

At the same time, Murodov reported that there was previously an agreement to involve the company in management. According to him, further forms of interaction may be considered if the partners agree with SAMA's conditions, including interest-free financing for 360 billion soums and the presentation of a new development model for the postal operator.

Separately, he answered a question about UzPost's plans for a stock buyback from minority shareholders.

Murodov explained that such an option is provided for by the legislation on joint-stock companies for shareholders who do not agree with corporate decisions being made.

"The initiator of this issue was the minority shareholder himself. He stated that he did not agree with the decision and, based on the law, demanded the buyback of the shares belonging to him," the head of the agency said.

According to him, the relevant issue was included on the agenda of the shareholders' meeting. He also noted that a similar practice is applied in other joint-stock companies of Uzbekistan.

At the same time, it follows from the minutes of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of UzPost dated September 21 that a trust management agreement was in effect regarding the company.

The document states that on December 30, 2025, between the state and WB INT EXPORT LLC, a trust management agreement for the state stake in UzPost No. 01/3−94 was concluded. In accordance with clause 6.1 of this agreement, the Russian company sent a letter dated August 11, 2026, No. DD-4 to SAMA proposing to change the composition of the postal operator's supervisory board.

In particular, it was proposed to re-elect four current members of the supervisory board — Oleg Pekos, Shakhzod Usarov, Roger Crook, and Muzaffar Astankulov — and to include five representatives associated with Wildberries & Russ in the board: Evgeny Mitin, Emil Khasyanov, Pavel Logunov, Alexandra Khmeleva, and Akmal Primkulov.

SAMA supported the proposal by sending a corresponding letter dated September 30, 2026. At the extraordinary meeting of shareholders, all nine candidates were elected to the supervisory board for a term of three years. Thus, five out of nine seats in it were received by representatives associated with Wildberries & Russ.

At the same time, the minutes contain no information about the termination of the trust management agreement dated December 30, 2025.

Murodov explained the need to attract new partners by changes in the postal services market and the reduction of traditional revenue sources.

In particular, one of the important revenue sources for UzPost previously was the delivery of paper notifications of administrative fines to citizens. However, after state bodies and banks switched to electronic notification, the need for this service disappeared.

"Previously, the notification was printed out, placed in an envelope, and delivered to the person who received the fine. Now all this is digitized. The post office lost a source of income in the amount of 50−60 billion soums from this service alone," Murodov said.

In his opinion, under these conditions, the company needs to introduce modern corporate governance mechanisms and adapt to competition from private logistics and trading platforms.

Earlier, on October 3, SAMA reported that UzPost's financial position remains difficult. Over the past three years, the company's average net profit was 800 million soums per year with a profitability of 0.2%.

In the first half of 2026, the revenue of the national postal operator decreased by 17% compared to the same period last year — to 313.6 billion soums. Bank debt reached 45.3 billion soums.

The agency estimated the need for modernization and digitization of the postal infrastructure at more than 300 billion soums. Among the planned measures are the procurement of cargo and electric transport, updating the sorting center, IT infrastructure, installing additional parcel lockers, and renovating post offices.

At the press conference, Murodov specifically addressed the future of the state stake in UzPost.

He explained that the national postal operator operates in the form of a joint-stock company in which the state acts as a shareholder. At the same time, there is no final decision on the privatization of the state stake yet.

"We have not yet made a final decision on the privatization of the post office. First of all, we want to attract the experience of companies that have international practice and occupy their place in the market," the head of SAMA stated.

According to official data of the agency dated October 3, the state stake in UzPost is 92.9%. Stakes previously owned by state organizations, enterprises, and commercial banks were consolidated into SAMA.

The agency also confirmed the interest of Wildberries and Uzum Market in acquiring the state stake, but reported the absence of executed documents on its privatization.

Murodov added that if the parties manage to reach an agreement on interest-free financing, information about this will be additionally published for the public.

In 2025, the shareholder structure of UzPost changed repeatedly. In June last year, Aloqabank, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and related structures were excluded from the list of affiliated persons. Instead, SAMA, legal entities associated with it, and the National Investment Fund of Uzbekistan (UzNIF) were included there.

Later, the 25% stake, which was originally supposed to be transferred to UzNIF, passed to the State Assets Management Agency.

In the autumn of 2025, reports appeared about the possible privatization of UzPost and interest in the company from Wildberries. Sources of Gazeta, Spot, and RBC then reported on the participation of the Wildberries & Russ structure in the process, but the transaction was not officially confirmed.

Uzum also declared its readiness to invest in UzPost and reported submitting an application to participate in the bidding.

In October 2025, the Anti-Corruption Agency required SAMA to ensure openness and transparency of possible bidding regarding the state stake in the postal operator.