Uzbekistan

Licenses refining (affinage) of precious metals; state assay supervision and hallmarking. Transferred from the CBU to the Ministry of Finance in 2019-2020.

Decides on licences (since 1 March 2024: export permits for export-control objects) for export of specific goods, which include precious metals (HS 7106-7111, 7115).

Implements the state's priority right to acquire refined gold for the reserves; issues and prices gold bars and coins; sets rules for banks' operations with precious metals; manages and sells international reserves (gold). Took over the abolished Agency for Precious Metals in 2020.

Website

https://cbu.uz

Export goods declarations; passenger customs declarations for individuals carrying bars above the norms.

Financial intelligence unit: receives suspicious-transaction reports under Law 660-II.

Forms the State Fund of precious metals and precious stones; majority shareholder of NMMC; AML/CFT supervisor of dealers in precious metals and stones, pawnshops and purchase points (per EAG 2022).

Issues subsoil-use permits (geological study, extraction) and prospector (artisanal) permits via e-auction; keeps the state balance of reserves.

Administers the subsoil use tax, special rent tax, profit tax and VAT; publishes precious-metal prices used for the jewellers' VAT margin base.

Dealers in precious metals and stones are reporting entities; STRs go to the DCEC.

Citation

No. 660-II of 26.08.2004, amended incl. ZRU-516 (15.01.2019) and ZRU-640 (05.10.2020)

Kind

Act

Art. 11: CBU implements the state's priority right to acquire refined gold; issues bars; regulates banks' precious-metal operations. Art. 12: keeps international reserves.

Citation

ZRU-582 of 11.11.2019

Kind

Act

In force from

2019-11-12

Banks may buy bars from the CBU and resell them, including gram-denominated gold and silver in mobile apps; LBMA fixing price basis; client identification required.

Kind

Regulation

In force from

2025-11-03

NMMC and AMMC may sell precious metals by direct contract with instalments until 1.1.2030; prospectors and refineries may sell through exchange trading; margin VAT base for jewellers until 1.1.2028; 2% duty on imported jewellery from 1.9.2025.

Citation

PP-207 of 26.06.2025

Kind

Decree

Bring entrepreneurs into 50+ alluvial gold deposits by 1.3.2025; propose tax breaks for prospectors; set up an on-site purchase centre for prospectors' precious metals (with Uzmilliybank).

Citation

PP-430 of 12.12.2024

Kind

Decree

Exchange sales of precious metals with 15% prepayment and deferral (to 1.1.2026); LBMA-AM-based discounts of 1-4% for jewellers; supply by NMMC/AMMC through Uzmilliybank on commodity invoices; refiners and jewellers need no export/import licence under the customs processing regime; citizens may carry gold jewellery up to 65 g without a passenger declaration.

Citation

PP-452 of 23.12.2022

Kind

Decree

Precious metals (HS 7106-7111, 7115) are specific goods whose export needs a licence; bars of gold extracted by individuals excepted. From 1.3.2024 (UP-8 of 09.01.2024) replaced by Cabinet export permits for export-control objects.

Kind

Decree

Lets individuals export gold bars and CBU coins produced in Uzbekistan, with a certificate and a passenger declaration above the norms; abolished the CBU Agency for Precious Metals and created the CBU Precious Metals Storage and Handling Service; amended the export/import licensing rules.

Citation

UP-6066 of 22.09.2020

Kind

Decree

In force from

2020-09-23

Refineries may supply jewellers directly (the requirement to sell through special cashier windows was removed); acquiring precious metals needs a notification, not a licence (three months after publication); fines raised to 30-50 BCA.

Citation

ZRU-1059 of 18.04.2025

Kind

Act

In force from

2025-07-19

Abolished the VAT exemption on jewellery; allows an increasing coefficient of up to 1.3 on subsoil use tax.

Citation

ZRU-1108 of 25.12.2025

Kind

Act

In force from

2026-01-01

Core law: definitions (refined metals, prospecting), Cabinet powers over import/export and exchange trading, CBU priority purchase (Art. 9), State Assay Chamber licensing of refining (Art. 10), prospecting (Art. 18), refining enterprises (Art. 19), priority right (Art. 21), State Fund (Art. 22), import/export (Art. 29).

Citation

ZRU-710 of 23.08.2021, as amended to ZRU-1025 of 07.02.2025

Kind

Act

Sets 50% income tax on NMMC profit in excess of 15% of revenue.

Citation

PP-455 of 25.12.2024

Kind

Decree

Previous subsoil law, repealed by ZRU-987 Art. 169.

Kind

Act

Repealed on

2025-02-02

Chapter 64 subsoil use tax (Arts 449-454, rates in Art. 452; special base for certain metals Art. 451-1); special rent tax (Arts 454-1 to 454-7); VAT exemptions Art. 243.

Citation

ZRU-599 of 30.12.2019, version at 01.01.2026

Kind

Act

State ownership of subsoil (Art. 6); title to lawfully extracted minerals passes to the permit holder (Art. 7); permit types (Art. 30); prospector mining chapter (Arts 116-123); payments (Arts 160-161).

Citation

ZRU-987 of 31.10.2024

Kind

Act

In force from

2025-02-02

Held by

Central Bank of Uzbekistan (state buyer and reserve manager)

Issued by

Law 'On the Central Bank' (Oliy Majlis)

Valid for

permanent

Licence / export permit

Held by

Legal entity holding a Cabinet export permit for precious metals (non-CBU)

Issued by

Cabinet of Ministers (Secretariat for Investment, Export Support and Foreign Economic Relations)

Valid for

Per contract

Held by

Jewellery producer (domestic buyer of refined gold)

Issued by

Self-adopted under Law 660-II; supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Finance

Notification registered

Held by

Jewellery producer (domestic buyer of refined gold)

Issued by

Authorised body under the Law on licensing, permitting and notification procedures

Prospector permit

Held by

Prospector (artisanal / small-scale gold miner)

Issued by

Ministry of Mining Industry and Geology, awarded by electronic auction

Valid for

3 years under the pre-2025 regime (Azizov 2021; Times of Central Asia 2024); the ZRU-987 term was not read reliably

Fee

Auction price; start price 7.5 million UZS under the pre-2025 regime (Azizov 2021)

Good Delivery List entry

Held by

Licensed refining (affinage) enterprise

Issued by

LBMA

Valid for

Subject to LBMA proactive monitoring and annual Responsible Gold audit

Refining licence

Held by

Licensed refining (affinage) enterprise

Issued by

State Assay Chamber under the Ministry of Economy and Finance

Held by

Commercial bank (precious-metal operations, incl. Uzmilliybank as distribution agent)

Issued by

CBU

Extraction permit

Held by

State mining and metallurgical combine (industrial gold miner)

Issued by

Ministry of Mining Industry and Geology / State Center for Subsoil Use

Valid for

Initially 10 years, extendable per feasibility study (Cabinet Resolution No. 133 of 25.03.2022, per GRATA)

Held by

Jewellery producer (domestic buyer of refined gold)

Issued by

Commodity exchange

Extraction permit

Held by

Private or joint-venture subsoil user holding an extraction permit

Issued by

Ministry of Mining Industry and Geology / State Center for Subsoil Use

Valid for

Initially 10 years, extendable

Fee

Application fee 1,648,000 UZS (Legal 500)

Imported jewellery; zero duty on pearls, diamonds and stones (HS 7101-7104) to 1.1.2026 under PP-452

Rate

2% (1.9.2025 - 1.9.2028)

Rate

15% on taxable profit up to 15% of revenue; 50% on profit in excess of 15% of revenue (2024 and 2025)

Base

Taxable profit

Paid by

NMMC

Collected by

Tax Committee

Rate

Minimum 25% of the taxable base

Base

Sales revenue (net of VAT and excise) less extraction expenses

Paid by

Subsoil users designated by the Tax Code

Collected by

Tax Committee

Extracted gold

Rate

7% (gold, silver, copper); from 1.1.2026 local councils may apply an increasing coefficient of up to 1.3 to subsoil use tax (non-metallic materials and cement limestone excepted)

Base

Value of extracted (recovered) gold; special base rules for certain metals in Tax Code Art. 451-1

Paid by

Subsoil user (state combines, private miners)

Collected by

Tax Committee

Gold, 2012

Rate

5%

Base

Taxable base per PP-1675

Domestic sales of gold and jewellery. The VAT exemption for jewellery was abolished from 1.1.2026. VAT treatment of refined gold sold to the CBU was not found

Rate

12% standard; exports zero-rated; jewellers may use the margin over the metal price as the base until 1.1.2028

Base

Taxable turnover; for jewellers the positive difference between the jewellery price and the price of the contained metal (Tax Committee published prices)

Paid by

Sellers

Collected by

Tax Committee

Kind

Anti-money laundering

Kind

Bar standard

Kind

State monopoly

Valid from

2019-11-12

Kind

Price control

Kind

Other

Kind

Cross-border declaration

Threshold

Passenger norms; 65 g gold jewellery

Valid from

2020-09-23

Kind

Other

In 2025 the CBU bought 109 t of gold from domestic producers and exported 100 t; gold was 83% of reserves (USD 55.1bn) at end-2025.

Figures: 109 t bought; 100 t exported; USD 55.1bn gold; 83% of reserves

NMMC sold USD 9,987m of gold to the CBU in 2025, its main customer (related party); production 3.15 Moz.

Figures: USD 9,987m; 3.15 Moz

WGC data reported the CBU as the largest central-bank seller in Q1 2025 (15 t, of which 11 t in March).

Figures: 15 t Q1 2025

EAG (2022) found the DPMS sector had the weakest understanding of STR obligations. Supervision of DNFBPs is insufficient, and sanctions are patchy or not applied outside banks and exchanges.

By law the CBU holds only a priority right, and other buyers are allowed. In practice the CBU takes nearly all output: NMMC's only disclosed gold customer is the CBU, and the CBU's 109 t purchase in 2025 is close to total national production.