Cost depends on the scope of work

Business licences and permits in Uzbekistan

Medical practice and pharmacies, alcohol, passenger and freight transport, educational services — obtaining, re-registration and defence when a licence is suspended.

  • Licences are issued with no limit on their period of validity, apart from a closed list of exceptions
  • Only a court may suspend a licence for longer than ten days
  • A reorganisation annuls the licence — except for a change of legal form
In brief

Who issues licences in Uzbekistan, and for how long?

The governing act is the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 14 July 2021 No. ZRU-701 “On licensing, permit and notification procedures”: it separates three regimes of access to an activity — a licence, a permit document and a notification. Licences are issued with no limit on their period of validity, apart from a closed list of exceptions. The issuing authority depends on the sector: medical activity is licensed by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, pharmaceutical and pharmacy activity by the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry, carriage of passengers and freight by the Ministry of Transport, and non-state educational services by the State Inspectorate for Supervision of the Quality of Education. Applications are filed through the Unified Portal of Interactive Public Services.

Where money is lost

What usually goes wrong

These are not abstract risks but the scenarios that make deals collapse and make state authorities decide against you.

The fit-out is done, the equipment is bought, and the licence still is not granted

Premises and equipment stand idle while rent and salaries keep running and there is no revenue. For a clinic that means months of dead cost.

Typical mistake: The lease was signed and the fit-out carried out before the premises were checked against the licensing requirements. An applicant's failure to meet the requirements is a direct ground for refusal.

We are selling the business — and it turns out the licence will be lost

The buyer gets a legal entity with no right to operate: either the deal falls apart or the price drops by the cost of re-licensing and downtime.

Typical mistake: Nobody read article 33 of ZRU-701: where an activity ceases as a result of a reorganisation the licence is annulled, and the exception is made for a change of legal form. The deal structure has to be chosen with that in mind, not after the fact.

The pack was assembled from a checklist, and the act turned out to be repealed

A whole preparation cycle — charter fund, warehouse, contracts — was spent meeting the requirements of an act that is no longer in force.

Typical mistake: They worked from resolution No. 301 of 20 May 2020 on wholesale trade in alcohol. It has been repealed, and since 1 May 2025 resolution No. 45 of 29 January 2025 applies, which most articles online do not reflect.

A dispute with the tax authority over the levy on beer

Either the levy is overpaid where it is not charged at all, or an assessment follows if the business took the opposite view on spirits.

Typical mistake: Three different things get mixed up: the levy for the right to sell alcoholic products, which is charged with the exception of beer; the wholesale trade licence; and the requirements for a retail outlet.

The licence was suspended and the business is at a standstill

Every idle day is lost revenue and customers moving to a competitor; a drawn-out suspension gets lease agreements terminated.

Typical mistake: They do not know that suspension by the authorised body is limited to ten days, and that anything longer is for a court to decide. Instead of removing the ground and demanding reinstatement, the business waits passively.

Not knowing whether a licence is required or a notification is enough

Either a fee was paid and weeks spent waiting where the notification regime would have done, or — the costlier version — the business operated on a notification where a licence was required.

Typical mistake: Nobody checked which regime the specific activity falls under. The licensing law expressly separates licences, permit documents and notifications, and the 2024 reform took part of the activities out of licensing.

Result

What you get

Identifying the regime

Licence, permit or notification — for your specific activity, not for the sector as a whole.

Checking premises and requirements

We match the site and its equipment against the licensing requirements before the fit-out and the purchase of equipment.

Pack and filing

Documents shaped to the issuing authority's requirements, filed through the Unified Portal of Interactive Public Services.

Handling a refusal

We take apart the ground, remove the non-compliance and re-file, instead of starting the cycle over blind.

Re-registration and deals

Keeping the licence through changes in the company, and choosing a deal structure that does not annul it.

Lifting a suspension

We remove the ground and get the licence reinstated on time, instead of waiting while the business stands idle.

How we work

How this works

  1. 012–3 days

    Diagnostics

    We identify the regime, the issuing authority and the full list of requirements for your activity.

  2. 02depends on the sector

    Building compliance

    Premises, equipment, staff and documents are brought to a state that will pass inspection.

  3. 03from 2 working days to a month

    Filing and support

    We file through the portal, answer the authority's queries and clear objections before a refusal, not after one.

  4. 04ongoing

    Support after issue

    Meeting the licensing requirements, re-registration when the company changes, defence during inspections.

Legal basis

What the law says

Every point comes with a link to the primary source, so you can check it yourself.

  • The governing act is the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 14 July 2021 No. ZRU-701 “On licensing, permit and notification procedures”, which separates licensing, permit and notification procedures.

    lex.uz — ZRU-701
  • Licences for licensed activities are issued with no limit on their period of validity, apart from a closed list of cases (art. 16 of ZRU-701).

    lex.uz — art. 16 of ZRU-701
  • Suspension of a licence by the authorised body is possible for up to ten days; suspension for a longer period falls within the competence of a court (art. 32 of ZRU-701).

    lex.uz — art. 32 of ZRU-701
  • A licence is annulled on liquidation of the legal entity, and also where the activity ceases as a result of a reorganisation — except for a change of legal form (art. 33 of ZRU-701).

    lex.uz — art. 33 of ZRU-701
  • The register of licences of Uzbekistan is public: it shows information on licences issued, suspended, reinstated, re-registered and annulled.

    gov.uz — register of licences
  • Applications for licences and the documents attached to them are accepted through the Unified Portal of Interactive Public Services and the licensing information system.

    gov.uz — licensing
  • The licence for medical activity is issued by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan; the term for providing the public service is 20 days.

    my.gov.uz — medical activity
  • The licence for pharmaceutical activity is issued by the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry under the Ministry of Health.

    my.gov.uz — pharmaceutical activity
  • The licence for the carriage of passengers and freight by road is issued by the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

    my.gov.uz — carriage
  • The licence for activity in the field of non-state educational services is issued by the State Inspectorate for Supervision of the Quality of Education.

    my.gov.uz — educational services
  • Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 301 of 20 May 2020 on licensing wholesale trade in alcoholic products has been repealed; resolution No. 45 of 29 January 2025 is in force.

    lex.uz — CM resolution No. 301 (repealed)
  • The rules on accounting for and circulation of ethyl alcohol and alcoholic products are set by Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 45 of 29 January 2025.

    lex.uz — CM resolution No. 45 of 29.01.2025
  • Presidential Decree No. UP-8 of 9 January 2024 provides for a reduction of mandatory requirements and simplification of licensing and permit procedures in business.

    lex.uz — UP-8 of 09.01.2024
  • The Law “On education” No. ZRU-637 of 23 September 2020 provides a separate regime for non-state educational activity, including licensing.

    lex.uz — ZRU-637
Choosing an option

Three regimes of access — and how they differ in practice

What we compareLicencePermit documentNotification
When you may startAfter the licence is issuedAfter the document is receivedAfter the notification is filed
Period of validityNo time limit, apart from a closed list of exceptionsAs set by the relevant actNot applicable
What is checked in advanceCompliance with the licensing requirementsCompliance with the conditions for issueAs a rule, compliance is confirmed by the applicant
Risk if you get it wrongRefusal, suspension, annulmentRefusal or withdrawalOperating without the right to do so, if the regime was identified incorrectly

The mistake is usually not in the documents but in identifying the regime: a business prepares a licence where a notification would be enough, or the other way round. So the first step is to qualify the specific activity, not to assemble a folder.

Next step

Tell us about your case

We will go through your situation, say what can realistically be done and by when, and name the cost once we understand the scope. Without that, any figure would be made up.

Консультация по задаче — бесплатно. Стоимость работы называем после того, как поймём объём.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

For how long is a licence issued in Uzbekistan?
Under article 16 of Law No. ZRU-701 licences are issued with no limit on their period of validity, apart from a closed list of cases. That means the real work is not renewal but keeping the business compliant with the licensing requirements.
Does the licence survive a sale or a reorganisation of the company?
Not always. Under article 33 of ZRU-701 the licence is annulled where the activity of the legal entity ceases as a result of a reorganisation, and the exception is made for a change of legal form. That is why the deal structure — buying a stake or reorganising — is chosen with the fate of the licence in mind.
For how long can a licence be suspended?
Suspension by the authorised body is limited to ten days; suspension for a longer period falls within the competence of a court. The practical conclusion: time works against the business, and the ground has to be removed immediately, not after an exchange of letters.
Who issues a medical licence and how long does it take?
The licence for medical activity is issued by the Ministry of Health, and the term for providing the public service is 20 days. Most of the time goes not on the review but on bringing premises, equipment and staff into line with the requirements before filing.
Is a licence needed to sell beer?
Beer and spirits are regulated differently and must not be treated alike: the levy for the right to sell alcoholic products is charged with the exception of beer. The exact set of requirements depends on whether this is wholesale or retail trade, so the regime is determined for your particular model.
Why do the alcohol licence checklists found online not work?
Because most of them were written for Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 301 of 20 May 2020, which has been repealed. Resolution No. 45 of 29 January 2025 is in force, and its requirements are different.
How can you check whether a company holds a licence?
The register of licences is public and shows information on licences issued, suspended, reinstated, re-registered and annulled. The same check is worth running on a counterparty: holding a licence on the date of the deal is part of due diligence.
What should you do if a licence is refused?
Start by taking the ground apart: a refusal is usually linked to incomplete documents or to the applicant not meeting the requirements. Both grounds can be removed, and re-filing after a targeted correction is cheaper and faster than a new preparation cycle run blind.
Why you can trust us with this

Verifiable facts about us

There are no testimonials or case studies here: they cannot be checked. Only what you can confirm yourself.

  • We state that resolution No. 301 on wholesale trade in alcohol has been repealed — this is the first thing the checklists found online stumble on, since they were written for an act that no longer applies.
  • Terms and issuing authorities are taken from the official public service cards, not from second-hand accounts.
  • An honest note on the source: lex.uz serves the texts of long articles truncated, so the wording of articles 16, 32 and 33 of the licensing law is worth checking against the full text of the act — the link to it is given next to each fact.

This material is for reference and is not legal advice on your specific situation. Rules and tariffs change — check the current wording through the links to the primary sources above. To have your case assessed, send us a request.