Uzbekistan Commercial News Update

December 2007

Prepared by Mr. Jahangir Kakharov,
BISNIS Representative, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Russia, Uzbekistan light flame at major gas field - report

TASHKENT. November 30 (Uzreport) - Russia's LUKOIL officially started up output from a major gas field in Uzbekistan on 29 November in a project expected to contribute one fifth of the Central Asian state's gas output. Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov and top Uzbek and LUKOIL officials toured the Khauzak deposit, tucked in a barren Uzbek steppe near the Silk Road town of Bukhara, after lighting a symbolic torch at the site, Reuters reported.

Russia, the world's largest natural gas producer and a major supplier to Europe, depends on gas imports from Central Asia where it pays below-market prices. The two nations used the opportunity to highlight increasingly close ties after years of chilly relations.

"Uzbekistan's President once again reassured us that Uzbekistan's long-term foreign policy, both in politics and business, is closely tied to Russia, and that this policy is not susceptible to sudden changes," Ivanov told reporters in Tashkent on the eve of the Bukhara ceremony.

Khauzak is part of the wider Kandym-Khauzak-Shady-Kungrad project, developed jointly by LUKOIL, with a 90% stake, and Uzbek state energy company UzbekNefteGaz which controls the rest. A 2004 production sharing agreement will last 35 years.

Partners in Khauzak, near the Turkmen border in south-western Uzbekistan, share output on a parity basis at the field which technically started production earlier this month. Khauzak is due to reach maximum capacity by 2012-2013 and produce more than 11 billion cubic meters of gas, or about one fifth of Uzbekistan's current total natural gas output.

LUKOIL said Khauzak is the biggest investment project in Uzbekistan with a total of US$350 million already committed. Total investments are expected to exceed US$3 billion, it said.

Operators plan to drill over 160 production wells at the field, and build over 1,500 km (932 miles) of pipelines as well as a gas processing plant with a capacity of 8 bcm per year.

In 2006, Uzbekistan produced 62 bcm of gas and exported 12.6 bcm, including 9 bcm to Gazprom. Central Asia's top natural gas producer, Turkmenistan, expects to produce about 80 bcm of gas this year. Russia is the main export destination for Uzbekistan, whose pipelines are controlled by Gazprom. But Uzbekistan is exploring new exploring routes, and earlier this year agreed to build a new pipeline to China at an unspecified date.

Uzbekistan wants to raise Russia gas price - report

TASHKENT. December 3 (Reuters) - Uzbekistan wants to charge Russia more for its gas supplies from next year and will negotiate a new deal in December, Reuters reported quoting an Uzbek energy official. Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has agreed to pay more for the gas it buys from another Central Asian gas producer, Turkmenistan, after it asked for a rise.

Uzbekistan followed suit on 29 November, with a source in the state energy company UzbekNefteGaz saying Uzbekistan also wanted to be paid more than the current US$100 per 1,000 cubic metres. "World prices are rising, the dollar is weakening. It's only logical that (Uzbek) gas prices should rise," the source told Reuters. "The question is by how much. But that is something to be discussed behind closed doors."

Gazprom said it will pay US$130 per tcm of the Turkmen gas in the first half of 2008 and US$150 in the second half, up from US$100 this year. Russia, the world's largest natural gas producer and a major gas supplier to Europe, still depends on gas imports from Central Asian states where it buys gas at below-market prices. It sells gas to Ukraine via trader RosUkrEnergo, mixing its own gas with that bought from Central Asian producers Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Gazprom, which charges its European customers an average of US$260 per 1,000 cubic metres, wants to bring gas prices for Ukraine to "market levels" by 2011 from US$130 per tcm now, but has promised to raise the price smoothly. Uzbekistan produced 62 bcm of gas last year and exported 12.6 bcm, including 9 bcm to Gaprom.

UzKDB Bank's capital to reach US$12.27 million by year end

TASHKENT. December 5 (Uzreport) - The ceremony of signing agreement on the pouring additional capital into UzKDB Bank worth US$3.27 million, which is a 36% increase of the bank's existing capital amount, was held in Tashkent on 4 December.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is participating in a capital increase of UzKDB Bank with the subscription of up to 22,263 newly issued ordinary shares for US$909,170. In total a capital increase of US$3.27 million is expected.

Chairman of Board of UzKDB Bank Kim Jang Jin, Head of the EBRD Resident Office in Tashkent Fernand Pillonel, Deputy Chairman of Board of the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activities (NBU) Yashin Hidirov, and the Chairman of Board of TuronBank open joint-stock commercial bank Daniyar Arifdjanov attended the signing ceremony.

The agreement was signed in accordance with the Presidential Resolution "On measures to further increase the capitalization of banks and activation of their participation in investment processes on modernization of economy" dated 12 July 2007. Thus, the general shareholders' meeting of UzKDB Bank decided to issue additional ordinary shares worth a total of US$3.27 million this year.

Currently, the bank's authorized capital is US$9 million. Out of this amount 61% of shares or 280.7 million soums belong to KDB Bank, while EBRD owns 28% of UzKDB Bank's shares or 127.6 million soums, as well as NBU and TuronBank have 5.5% of shares or 25.5 million soums each.

UzKDB Bank is planning to form its authorized capital worth US$12.27 million (8.3 million euros) by the 2007 year end.

The increase of UzKDB Bank's capital is aimed to strengthen competition in the banking sector of Uzbekistan and offer private investors a bigger choice. It will enable the bank to expand its operations in the country and upgrade its IT system. The bank will also be able to service more and larger foreign, local and joint venture borrowers from the private sector and reduce their reliance on the state-owned banks.

EBRD decided in its latest Strategy for Uzbekistan, adopted in July 2005, to focus on the support of private sector investment and entrepreneurship. The bank also regards the promotion of foreign investments as an important means for developing the private sector.

"EBRD's participation in the capital increase was a clear sign of our commitment to continue supporting our partners in Uzbekistan and to remain engaged with a strategic investor such as the Korean Development Bank that is committed to helping the development of Uzbek economy," Fernand Pillonel said.

UzKDB Bank is majority-owned by the Korean Development Bank, a leading bank in South Korea, and a foreign investor in Uzbekistan with a strong commitment to expand operations within the local financial sector. KDB's long term strategy and the shareholders' decision on 29 March 2007 anticipated an injection of additional capital into UzKDB Bank.

"This is further step to develop the relationship between Uzbekistan and Korea which is also reflected in the fact that the capital increase is included in the memorandum signed between both countries earlier this year. The additional capital will allow UzKDB Bank to strengthen its further development and expand its business into the regions," Kim Jang Jin said.

Oxus Gold says Amantaytau gets Uzbekistan nod for AGF phase 2 project

TASHKENT. December 7 (Uzreport) - Oxus Gold PLC said its 50%-owned joint venture Amantaytau Goldfields has received approval from the government of Uzbekistan to proceed with the AGF phase 2 underground sulphides project, according to Thomson Financial. The company said it plans to increase sulphide plant throughput to 1.2 million tons per year by 2012 from the original design tonnage of 750,000 tons per year in 2009. It expects first gold production from the Phase 2 project in mid 2009, and estimates an additional 86,000 ounces of gold to be extracted from the expanded Centralny pit at a cost of US$9.6 million. First gold production from the underground Severny mine is expected in mid-2010, and the pre-production cost for the underground development and plant modification is estimated at US$139 million. The new base case is expected to produce about 246,000 ounces of gold annually from the existing JORC compliant Severny measured and indicated underground resources over an initial 7 year period.

Initially, a total of 1.43 million ounces of gold will be produced at an estimated cash cost of US$197 per ounce, excluding taxes. The combined Severny and Centralny sulphide underground ore reserves are 9.71 million tons at an average grade of 7.71 grams per tonne, containing 2.41 million ounces of gold.

Chairman Douglas Sutherland said over 80% of the Oxus' resources are contained within the Amantaytau Goldfields project and there is significant potential to increase it further and to continue mining in excess of 300,000 ounces a year for over a decade.

Motorola and Winncom Technologies hold joint presentation

TASHKENT. December 7 (Uzreport) - Motorola and Winncom Technologies held a joint presentation on 5 December at Dedeman Silk Road Tashkent Hotel. Motorola's Regional Manager for CIS, Baltic, Central Asia and Kazakhstan Thomas Bergman also made presentations of the MOTO Wi4 platforms, Mesh technologies, Motorola canopy and BPL.

"Although the use of technologically more sophisticated systems is promoted as one of the main advantages of the WiMAX standard, today the market is observing substantial demand for simple communication systems," Thomas Bergman said. "Our ultra-light 802.16e system will allow the operators to render inexpensive fixed wideband access services in places where they are most needed."

During the presentation the representatives of the Winncom Technologies Company spoke of the Motorola's conception about the abandonment of the currently operated communication networks and integration of the new generation technological solutions, which should help the operators keep their competitive positions in a fast-developing Uzbek market. During the presentation, the company's manager also spoke of the MOTOwi4 wireless wideband communication solutions, including wi4 WiMAX, wi4 Mesh, wi4 Canopy и wi4 Broadband over Power Line systems. These are intended to help the providers render the customers high-speed access services using both fixed and mobile communication networks.

The main purpose of the MOTOwi4 WiMAX system is to provide inexpensive communication services to stationary and moving subscribers in developing countries and areas poorly covered by communication networks. The system operates in the 3.5 GHz frequency range available in the majority of the countries of the world. Although among the majority of users the IEEE 802.16e WiMAX standard is associated with mobile systems, Motorola believes that the standard's potential of a wireless technology of fixed access should not be underestimated. According to the engineers, in this sense most convenient and reliable is the 802.16-2004, which is also perfectly suitable for joint operation with the wire networks. Within one network MOTOMESH can work simultaneously as non-licensed WiFi-terminals, and communication equipment intended for emergency services functioning within the licensed frequency range of 4.9 GHz.

Motorola's solutions are intended for use within a single IP-based carrier network. At the same time, the operators rendering the services of wideband communication and IP-telephony to new territories may use Motorola's other solutions, such as WiMAX or MetroWiFi on licensed and conditionally non-licensed frequencies.

Unlike the traditionally cellular base station installed on the floor, MOTOwi4 WiMAX' UltraLight Access Point may be installed wherever desired. Motorola thinks it will find high demand among the operators in the developing countries and rural areas of the developed countries, particularly the regions of Eastern Europe, Middle East and Central Asia.

MOTOwi4 family includes wideband solutions for fixed and mobile devices of the subscriber end equipment, PC-cards, devices installed in vehicles of public security services.

Winncom Technologies Company has a developed business infrastructure. Headquartered in the United States, it has offices in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Hungary, and Poland, each of which employs high quality experienced staff. Over the years of its operation, Winncom Technologies has taken part in many successful projects. Today Winncom provides complex solutions involving the creation of network infrastructure to the operators and corporate clients in Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Among its clients are major companies, such as KazakhTelecom, a division of Golden Telecom, Vnukovo Airport, and others.

Malaysia's Petronas inks key agreements with Uzbekistan

TASHKENT. December 12 (Uzreport) - President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov in his Oksaroy residence in Tashkent on December 11 received the President and CEO of Petronas Group (Malaysia) Tan Sri Dato Sri Mohd Hassan Marican.

In the course of state visit of the Uzbek President Islam Karimov to Malaysia in October 2005, UzbekNefteGaz national holding company and Petronas Corporation signed a Memorandum of cooperation and the Agreement on joint development of oil-and-gas resources. These documents envisage attraction of over US$100 million of investments in the fuel and energy complex of Uzbekistan. Some US$50 million have been spent for seismologic exploration in the investment blocks of Baisun and Surkhanski.

The transnational corporation Petronas was founded in 1974 and currently works in 30 countries. The range of Petronas' activity is very wide, namely exploration and development of oil-and-gas deposits, processing of raw materials, trade in oil products and liquefied gas, marketing researches.

Petronas has signed three key agreements in Uzbekistan which would boost its presence and strengthen its business portfolio in the country, a report by the Malaysian company's Media Relations Department said.

Through wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn Bhd (PCOSB), Petronas signed the Agreement on Activities and Main Principles for Baisun Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) and an Exploration Agreement for the Surkhanski Block with the government of Uzbekistan. Both blocks are located adjacent to each other in the country's southern Surkhandarya region.

Petronas also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) for Petrochemical Projects with the Uzbek national oil company UzbekNefteGaz.

The Agreement on Activities and Main Principles for Baisun Block PSA outlines the main principles and provisions for the PSA. Under the PSA which PCOSB expects to enter into in 2008, PCOSB will hold a 100% equity stake and will be the operator for the block. Currently, PCOSB is already undertaking exploration work in the block, measuring 3,150 square kilometres, under a Joint Study Agreement signed with UzbekNefteGaz in 2005.

The Exploration Agreement for the Surkhanski Block grants PCOSB the rights to carry out exploration work in the block, measuring 7,200 square kilometres, and will subsequently pave the way for a PSA upon discovery of hydrocarbons.

The agreements for the two blocks will enhance Petronas' presence in the upstream sector of Uzbekistan. PCOSB is already actively involved in the Aral Sea PSA in which it has 20% equity. Other partners in this venture which is currently in exploration stage are UzbekNefteGaz, CNPC International Ltd, Korea National Oil Corporation and Lukoil Overseas Holding Ltd.

The MOC for Petrochemical Projects allows Petronas and UzbekNefteGaz to undertake joint studies and paves the way for the two parties to cooperate in the development of downstream petrochemical projects in Uzbekistan. UzbekNefteGaz currently operate an ethylene and polyethylene manufacturing plants at the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex in Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan.

The signing ceremony for the three agreements took place in Tashkent on December 10. Petronas was represented by its President and CEO Tan Sri Dato Sri Mohd Hassan Marican. The Uzbek government was represented by its Deputy Prime Minister Ergash Shaismatov and UzbekNefteGaz was represented by its Chairman Nurmuhammad Ahmedov.

Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan fail to agree on gas export prices for 2008

TASHKENT. December 13 (Uzreport) - Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan failed to agree on a gas export price for 2008, Itar-Tass reported quoting the Director General of Kyrgyzgaz, a state-run gas transport company, Salamat Aitikeyev.

Until now the results of the talks between the two countries' energy companies have not been made public.

"We've not yet signed an agreement for 2008, as we cannot agree on a price," Aitikeyev said. "We consider the price proposed by Uzbekistan groundless."

He declined to disclose this price and stressed that Kyrgyzgaz is ready to pay US$130 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas.

Aitikeyev expressed the hope that the two parties will agree on Uzbek gas export price before 20 December.

Kyrgyzstan also proposed Uzbekistan to sign a long-term or a medium-term contract on gas supplies, as gas prices continue to grow from year to year, which creates hurdles for Kyrgyzstan's budget planning.

Over the past three years Uzbekistan increased its gas export prices for Kyrgyzstan from US$42 to US$100 per 1,000 cubic meters.

ADB extends US$3m grant to facilitate trade in Central Asia

TASHKENT. December 19 (Uzreport) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a US$3 million grant to facilitate trade among member nations of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) as part of efforts to promote sustained economic progress across the region.

The Integrated Trade Facilitation Support for CAREC will receive an additional US$600,000 from the governments of CAREC countries to complete the funding requirement.

"The outcome of the project is greater volume of trade due to time and cost savings as a result of coordinated cross-border regulations, procedures and standards, as well as improved trade logistics," said Ying Qian, Principal Economist of ADB's East Asia Department.

The project supports the implementation of the trade facilitation component of the Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy endorsed by the sixth Ministerial Conference on CAREC in November 2007. CAREC is composed of Azerbaijan, People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Turkmenistan also participates in CAREC's trade facilitation work.

Strengthened customs cooperation is the core program of the trade facilitation strategy. The project will also come up with an expanded scope of the work program to address broader issues of trade facilitation, focus on trade facilitation efforts on the CAREC transport corridors, adopt a results-based approach in monitoring time and cost savings as the key indicators of the program, and support logistics assessments and planning focusing on priority corridors and developing national and regional implementation strategies to facilitate trade.

The project will also support bilateral initiatives among CAREC countries and enhance partnership between CAREC's participating multilateral institutions and key international agencies supporting customs reform, trade facilitation and logistics development in the region. It will also promote dialogue and cooperation with the private sector, which would help formulate and utilize trade facilitation measures, and undertake capacity building in areas of integrated trade facilitation and in broader areas related to trade and transport. The project will also produce knowledge products such as policy and strategic papers.

Trade facilitation plays a vital role for CAREC countries, especially in expanding intra- and interregional trade, which spur investments and economic growth in the long term. Trade facilitation refers to a wide range of activities such as import and export procedures, transport formalities, payments, and insurance and other financial requirements.

Despite years of reform and intensified regional cooperation efforts, the participation of Central Asian countries in international trade remains limited mainly due to the unnecessarily high costs of trade due to, among other reasons, the countries being landlocked, which makes trade and transit problematic.

At most borders, it is necessary to comply with a range of procedures in addition to customs, including animal quarantine, inspection of plants and other agricultural materials, checking of drivers' licenses, axle loads, and compliance with other road rules.

Simplification and harmonization of such procedures are integral to trade facilitation. While international agreements on standard norms can help, a key requirement is to shift policy to place more emphasis on trade facilitation rather than trade control.

ADB funds upgrade of key 'Silk Road' highway in Uzbekistan

TASHKENT. December 20 (Uzreport) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Uzbekistan US$75.3 million loan to upgrade a key highway that is an integral part of a regional transport corridor across Central Asia.

The move comes a month after eight countries in and around Central Asia agreed to a US$18 billion strategy to improve roads, airports, railways, and ports to make the region a vital transit route for trade between Europe and Asia – a modern-day equivalent of the ancient Silk Road.

The new loan will be used to upgrade two sections of the A-380 highway, a 1,204 kilometer road that runs from the Kazakh border in Uzbekistan's north toward Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in the south.

The first road section to be reconstructed is 40 kilometers long in Kungrad District of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The second is 91 kilometers long in the Khazarsp District of Khorezm Province and Tortkul District of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. International competitive bidding for the civil works will be applied for the first time.

"Upgrading the road will cut travel times and reduce transport costs," said Olly Norojono, a Transport Economist with ADB. "This highway is essential for enhancing regional integration and economic growth in Central Asia."

Part of the loan will also be used to help the Government of Uzbekistan strengthen the operation and maintenance of the country's road network by improving road-sector institutions, planning and budgeting, as well as the provision of road-building equipment.

Insufficient maintenance in the past has led to the deterioration of roads. While the Government has made progress in fixing the problem, the budget for maintaining primary roads hasn't been sufficient.

The total cost of highway upgrade and strengthening the road sector capacity is US$173.5 million. In addition to the US$75.3 million provided by ADB, the Government is investing US$98.2 million.

The strategy to invest in transport corridors in and around Central Asia was agreed at a meeting in Dushanbe on November 3 of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program, which is sponsored by ADB. In addition to Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, and Tajikistan have agreed to the strategy.

ADB provides US$2m grant to combat land degradation, climate change woes

TASHKENT. December 20 (Uzreport) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a US$2 million grant for the formulation, adoption and implementation of land degradation policies and strategies and to reduce the vulnerability to climate change of target developing member countries.

The 12th Agriculture and Natural Resources Research at International Agricultural Research Centers is estimated to cost US$2.863 million.

Syria-based International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will provide, respectively, US$227,000 and US$260,000 to support the project.

Both ICARDA and ICRISAT are parts of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, which is a strategic partnership of countries, international and regional organizations and private foundations supporting the work of 15 international agricultural research centers.

The governments of participating developing member countries will cover the balance to complete the funding requirement for the project through their national agricultural research systems.

"Investing in agriculture and natural resource research is an essential means of reducing poverty and stimulating agricultural and economic growth, through improvements in productivity. In Asia, one of the most urgent and rewarding areas for research is to develop effective technologies, institutions and policies to deal with environmental changes due to land degradation and climate change," said Tun Lin, natural resources economist of ADB's East Asia Department.

The project has three components each targeting a select group of developing member countries. The first component will be for the People's Republic of China (PRC), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The component will involve analysis of existing land use policy and institutional and environmental factors that influence land degradation. It will also identify policy options to support the adoption of improved sustainable land management technologies that combat land degradation and promote enhanced productivity. It will make policy and strategy recommendations to promote better development pathways and livelihoods based on sustainable land management.

The second component targets Bangladesh, PRC, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It will involve analysis of climate variability and its impact on cropping pattern, structures of income and employment, adaptation-coping strategies for the rural poor, and identification of best practices and institutional innovations to lessen the effects of climate change. It will also involve recommending strategies to address socioeconomic problems relating to weather patterns.

All developing member countries will be covered by the final component, which will focus on strengthening the capacity of ADB to coordinate, supervise, monitor and evaluate agriculture and natural resources activities.

The assistance provided by ADB to support its agriculture and natural resources research policy, which was adopted in 1995, has played an integral role in addressing the Bank's overall objective of poverty reduction and related priorities such as regional cooperation and sustainable environmental management.

Despite recent economic progress in the Asian and Pacific region, it remains home to two-thirds of the world's poor. Some 600 million people in the region live on less than US$1 a day. Given that majority of poor people live in rural areas and rely on agriculture, and that agriculture paves the way for economic growth in poorer nations, the sector continues to determine the extent in which progress can be made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The Millennium Development Goals serve as blue print for nations and development institutions in fighting poverty and improving lives. The first goal seeks to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by reducing to half, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people living on less than US$1 a day and of people suffering from hunger.

Number of mobile users in Uzbekistan grows twofold every year

TASHKENT. December 27 (Uzreport) - The mobile communication is a dynamically developing field of the Uzbek telecommunication sector. Today there are five mobile operators (three of GSM standard and two – CDMA), which serve more than 4 million subscribers. Thus, the mobile penetration throughout the country makes up over 15% and the number of mobile users is growing almost twice every year.

According to results of the study conducted recently by the State Demonopolization Committee of Uzbekistan, today three large mobile operators – Uzdunrobita (MTS-Uzbekistan), Unitel (Beeline) and Coscom – cover 95% of the market, while the leading operator Uzdunrobita holds 50% of the market alone.

Analysis of the growth of subscribers by regions showed that the majority of mobile users are concentrated in Tashkent city and Tashkent region (44%). The penetration level in this region is the highest and makes up over 25%.

At the same time, in some region the level of penetration does not exceed 1-2%. Taking into account the trend towards the increase of the number of users in regions, we can suppose that the mobile communication in Uzbekistan will expand due to new subscribers in regions.

The main factors of mobile users increase were improvement of affordability of this service, as well as expansion of the range of services and the coverage zone provided by mobile operators.

The study allowed to reveal the shares of subscriber bases of all mobile companies on results of 2005 and 2006. In particular, the share of UzbekTelecom in the total number of fixed and mobile communication users comprised 54.5% and 35.6% respectively. The shares of other operators of fixed communication spread as follows: UzI – 4.2% and 2.8%, Buzton – 0.1% and 0.1%, ChirKom – 0.9% and 0.6%.

The market share of leading mobile operators reached the following figures: Uzdunrobita – 21% and 32.5%, Unitel – 12.2% and 17.2%, Coscom – 5.1% and 8.5%, followed by Rubicon Wireless Communication (Perfectum Mobile) with 1.8% and 2.6%. UzbekTelecom Mobile held the smallest shares – 0.2% and 0.2%.

The decrease of the shares on fixed communication is explained by relatively fast growth of mobile users, in particular the subscriber base of Coscom went up nearly 1.6 times in 2006 as compared to 2005. As to fixed communication operators, this quotient is highest in Buzton (37%), while that of the other operators does not exceed 5%.

By the way, foreign experts have recently analyzed the prices for mobile communication worldwide and revealed that Uzbekistan has the cheapest indicators. The cost of average package of mobile services – 25 calls and 30 short text messages monthly – was taken as criterion for the evaluation, which makes up US$12.25.

The countries where standard package costs over US$20 per month formed the top ten with Kuwait (US$75.18) occupying the leading position. Sierra-Leone and Georgia with the cost of services worth US$72 and US$44 respectively were the second and third in the top list.

Mobile subscribers in French Polynesia and France pay less than US$40 per month. And luckiest are people living in Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka and Venezuela, as mobile services in these countries cost less than US$2 per month.

For more information on Uzbekistan, visit BISNIS online at http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/Uzbekistan.cfm

BISNIS (www.bisnis.doc.gov) is part of the U.S. Commercial Service (www.export.gov)