Registration of NGO in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan has recently opened its doors to businesses and people from around the world. This is a bold move considering that the country was previously largely closed off to outside interests. With ending the forced labor in the country’s cotton plantations, still ongoing state assets privatization and judicial reform, Uzbekistan’s dedication to improvement in all sectors signals a shift to a more open economy that is attractive to foreign investors.

Being 144th in the Doing Business ranking 2015, now the country holds 69th position in the ranking. The country has implemented reforms to make it easier to do business. This includes a favorable corporate tax rate of 15%, VAT of 12% and a number of unprecedented privileges for IT companies that is steadily transforming the country as the regional IT-hub.

Along with foreign direct investments from commercial entities, foreign aid programs can also be helpful in country’s development. Usually, foreign aid programs from USAID and other similar agencies are implemented by NGOs. It is mandatory for NGOs to have state registration in Uzbekistan in order to implement such projects.

While setting up a company may be done in couple of days, registering an NGO can still be challenging. It is especially true when an NGO has a foreign element.

According to Uzbek law "On non-state non-profit organizations", the NGOs shareholder(s) shall submit 2 apostilled copies of each of the following documents:

• Constituent documents and certificate of incorporation;
• Resolution to register a Branch Office;
• Charter of the Branch Office in Uzbek and Russian languages;
• Power of Attorney for the Head of the Branch Office;
• Information about the NGO's Activities;
• Financial Declaration.

While the NGO registration procedure is quite straightforward according to the said law, a minor and formal mistake in any of the submitted documents may lead to rejection from the authorities and the applicant is required to prepare the whole set of documents all over again.

Sometimes registering of an NGO may take as long as a year. There are cases when the authorities have been rejecting registration of certain NGOs for years. The two main reasons for such rejections are non-compliance of documents with local requirements and not understanding what the authorities want from the applicant.

Having 10+ years in Uzbekistan’s legal sphere, SETTLE law firm can be your trusted partner in registering your NGO’s representative of branch office. One of our most recent success stories related to NGOs is registration of a US-based international NGO's local branch office in Uzbekistan. This NGO is an implementing partner of a USAID-funded program.

Keywords: Uzbekistan, NGO, state registration