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A Samarkand-registered trading company with a declared share capital of just 20 million soums has acquired the headquarters of the Republican Centre for Aerogeodesy in Tashkent’s Yunusabad district for 213.09 billion soums — roughly 35 percent above the auction’s starting price.
The sale took place on 26 October through the state’s E-auksion platform, where only two companies competed for the asset. The winning bidder, Utkir Shop, was incorporated in Samarkand region in 2023 and lists its registered activity as wholesale trade in furniture, household goods, and hardware. The gap between its nominal capitalisation and the price it paid for a near-10,000-square-metre state complex is likely to draw scrutiny from observers of Uzbekistan’s privatisation process.
What Was Sold
The property comprises buildings and structures totalling 9,975 square metres, set on a shared-use land plot of 1.3 hectares, of which the sold share amounts to 1.1 hectares. The complex sits in Yunusabad, one of Tashkent’s central administrative districts.
Under the terms of the transaction, the Republican Centre for Aerogeodesy retains the right to occupy the building free of charge for one year after the sale. Once that period expires, the property passes fully to Utkir Shop.
Questions Around the Buyer
The profile of the winning company raises questions that the auction result alone cannot answer. A wholesale furniture and hardware trader founded three years ago in a region outside the capital, with a statutory fund of 20 million soums, has outbid a competitor to take ownership of a major state technical institution’s premises for a sum more than ten thousand times its registered capital. Uzbekistan’s E-auksion system is designed to maximise transparency and revenue from state-asset disposals, and the 35-percent premium over the reserve price suggests competitive pressure — yet the identity and financing of the buyer remain opaque from publicly available records.
The sale is part of a broader programme to transfer state-owned real estate and institutional buildings to private hands, a policy the government has pursued with increasing pace in recent years. The one-year rent-free grace period for the outgoing occupant is a standard condition in such transactions, giving the state body time to relocate before the new owner takes possession.