The National Agency for Advanced Projects has registered foreign currency-denominated bond issues totaling $90 million. This was announced by the agency's first deputy director Vyacheslav Pak at the VIII international Cbonds conference "Capital Market of the Republic of Uzbekistan".

"Steady progress is being made. I very much hope that these figures will grow significantly by year-end," he said.

What changed over three years

The current year was called "breakthrough" by the agency's deputy head: new mechanisms began to be piloted and instruments that were previously absent from the market started to appear.

Among the implemented innovations:

  • digital investor identification;
  • green bonds;
  • shelf registration of issues;
  • individual investment accounts;
  • mortgage bonds — the first issue for 200 billion soums was launched under a regulatory sandbox, after which the first REPO transactions with these securities took place on the exchange.

The emergence of REPO — a fundamental shift

REPO operations allow market participants to temporarily place or borrow funds short-term against securities as collateral.

This missing mechanism was previously called by exchange management the main obstacle to developing the debt segment: without it, an investor who bought a bond effectively froze funds until maturity.

The unclaimed dividends issue resolved

Pak named the transition to dividend and interest payments through the Central Depository and investment intermediaries as a key achievement.

Previously, shareholders had to contact the issuer themselves to receive due payments — and many did not. "This problem no longer exists," he noted.

For retail investors, this change is significant: dividend income is meaningful only when payment actually reaches the holder.

Fund IPO as a landmark event

The placement of the National Investment Fund on the London Stock Exchange was called by the agency deputy as one of the largest IPOs on that platform in the past five years.

In his view, the deal underscores international community interest in the local capital market.

What's next

Mechanisms currently operating under regulatory sandbox are planned to be enshrined in legislation.

The draft law "On the Capital Market" in its new version has been submitted to the Oliy Majlis and passed first reading in the Legislative Chamber. The agency expects its adoption by year-end.

"It will become the very foundation that will approve and legislatively entrench all these new instruments and transformation," Pak stated.

What this means for retail investors

The range of available instruments is expanding rapidly. In recent weeks alone, currency issues from Asia Alliance Bank, Universal Bank, and microfinance organization Agat Credit were registered — offering yields from 8.5% to 11.5% per annum in dollars.

An important caveat remains: bonds are not protected by a guarantee system, unlike bank deposits. Their yields should be compared with the currency deposits offered by banks with consideration for the difference in protection levels.

This material is for informational purposes and is not an investment recommendation.