The Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan initiated a case on fact of concluding an agreement with Zooduz Holding Limited, registered in the United Arab Emirates, for sale and purchase of a 99.99 percent stake in authorized capital of JV Orientswiss Tashkent LLC, which is the founder of a microcredit organizations under the trademark “Zoodpay” (LLC “Zoodpay”), operating in the territory of the republic, without obtaining prior consent of the antimonopoly authority.
For reference: Zoodmall marketplace, Zoodpay microcredit system, Zoodship digital platform, which provides logistics and delivery services in Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Lebanon under the Zood brand, owned by the Swiss company Orientswiss S.A., has users consisting of more than 300 million individuals and 5 million business entities.
Actions to conclude this transaction were taken in violation of the requirements of part two of Article 17 of the current Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Competition”.
That is, in accordance with this article, in the following cases, it is necessary to obtain prior consent of the antimonopoly authority for transactions to acquire shares (stakes) in the authorized fund (authorized capital) of an economic entity by a person or group of persons:
if such a person or a group of persons acquires right to dispose of more than 50 percent of the said shares (interests);
if the total balance sheet value of assets of persons participating in transaction, or total income received from sale of goods for the last calendar year, is more than 100,000 times size of BCV, or if one of participants in transaction is an economic entity that occupies a dominant position in commodity or financial market .
During study, it was found that the book value of assets and turnover exceeded 100,000 times size of BCV, JV LLC Orientswiss Tashkent, whose shares are being sold.
In connection with current situation, the Committee issued a binding order to eliminate violations of law on the basis of competition law, and measures are being taken to apply responsibility provided for by the Code of Administrative Liability.
It should be noted that the new Law “On Competition” applies to the activities of digital platforms, and the Committee performs the task of regulating them in terms of ensuring competition.
To date, the Committee is developing mechanisms for regulating digital platforms in cooperation with experts from international organizations (the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank), and the adoption of these documents is planned with the entry into force of the new Competition Law.
At the same time, as noted above, we remind you once again that in cases established by law, in order to obtain a share (share) in the authorized fund (authorized capital) of economic entities, it is required to obtain the prior consent of the antimonopoly authority.
