The Ukrainian government has taken reciprocal steps in response to discriminatory measures by Uzbekistan. Until November 14, 2014, licensing of imports of passenger cars of Uzbek production is introduced within the established quota — no more than three cars per year.
The reason was the violation by the Uzbek side of Article 3 of the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. According to this document, the parties are obliged to refrain from discriminatory actions against each other. However, Uzbekistan introduced such excise tax rates on excisable goods of local production and on goods imported into its territory that they actually blocked the way for Ukrainian cars to the Uzbek market.
Due to the excise taxes imposed on imported automotive products, their price increases by at least one and a half times. As a result, such products lose competitiveness in the domestic market of Uzbekistan. At the same time, in Ukraine, excise rates on new passenger cars are the same for both domestic producers and exporters. Moreover, they do not apply to trucks, buses, and components at all.
In addition, Uzbekistan, within the framework of its currency policy, created more favorable conditions for local automakers and actually excluded the possibility of importing similar products from outside.
These actions, which directly contradict international agreements and infringe on the rights of Ukrainian participants in foreign economic activity, did not go unanswered. The Cabinet of Ministers on October 12, 2011, adopted Resolution No. 1073, which introduced a licensing regime and established quotas on imports of passenger cars from Uzbekistan.
