juris.hq
Starting a companyUpdated 07.09.2026

Can I set up a joint-stock company in Uzbekistan?

Short answer

Yes — but it is refused registration without one or more foreign investors holding at least 15%.

15%One or more foreign investors must hold not less than fifteen per cent of the charter fund (Registration Regulation, Para. 43 — lex.uz ↗)
OtherwiseRegistration or re-registration is refused — it is a ground additional to the general list (Registration Regulation, Para. 43 — lex.uz ↗)
ExceptionsSave where a decision of the President or the Cabinet provides otherwise (Registration Regulation, Para. 43 — lex.uz ↗)
AndA reorganised joint-stock company waits on its securities — new entities are registered only after the share issue is cancelled and the company struck from the register (Registration Regulation, Para. 27 — lex.uz ↗)
What the law provides

The joint-stock company carries a requirement no other form does. Beyond the general grounds, registration or re-registration of a joint-stock company is refused where one or more foreign investors whose share must amount to not less than fifteen per cent of the charter fund are absent — except in cases established by decisions of the President or the Cabinet of Ministers. For a foreign founder that reads as an invitation rather than an obstacle, but it is a genuine constraint on the shape of the cap table. (Registration Regulation, Para. 43 — lex.uz ↗)

The form also behaves differently on reorganisation. Where a joint-stock company is being wound up as a result of reorganisation, the newly arising legal entities are registered only after the state registration of its securities issue has been cancelled and the company has been excluded from the register, and its notice to creditors is published through the securities regulator’s channels rather than on the portal. For most foreign-owned businesses the limited liability company remains the simpler instrument. (Registration Regulation, Paras. 27, 28 — lex.uz ↗)

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