BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 16
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
Ever since COVID-19 was revealed in Uzbekistan, effective measures were taken to curb the spread of the virus, which made it possible to prepare a health care system and increase the “safety margin” for receiving a certain number of patients and treating them, Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Uzbekistan, Eduards Stiprais told Trend in an interview.
"The mortality statistics for the 34 millionth population of Uzbekistan is a confirmation of this," he said.
“Thus, if now, with a gradual weakening of measures, the number of sick or hospitalized at the same time jumps (and now about a thousand are in medical institutions, 3,300 people have already recovered, and only dozens are in precarious conditions), then the system will cope with this,” added Stiprais.
The ambassador stressed the importance of taken measures of Uzbek government for the support of most vulnerable families and the elderly.
“We apparently see how the charity system began to massively develop, including civic initiative and state assistance in this process, since any initiative requires safety measures, and this is what the state provided for its part,” said Stiprais.
The ambassador mentioned massive effect of the pandemic, on small and medium-sized businesses of Uzbekistan, especially those focused on the tourism sector and the service sector.
“In fact, this is the small and medium-sized business that has the least of its reserves, the so-called “streak of fat”. Therefore, the fact that the state, for its part, has prepared a program for both tax holidays and freezing of loan payments guaranteed by the state for SMEs is the best in current conditions,” said Stiprais.
"In general, Uzbekistan is successfully coping with the economic crisis," he added.
“However, if the crisis drags on, it will become much more difficult for the state to continue the support policy, since any budget funds are limited. Then you will have to affect and curtail any investment programs and redirect funds. But currently the situation is developing successfully,” added Stiprais.
But, on the other hand, Stiprais noted that each country chooses its own way forward, but not a single support program has yet ended, and the consequences of the pandemic have not ended. Therefore, it is difficult to draw conclusions and talk about the effectiveness of certain measures and countries.
“But what is good for Uzbekistan as a whole is a capacious domestic market: 34 million consumers. With appropriate stimulation of demand, this may allow in the next one to two years to keep afloat many production enterprises and the service sector,” added Stiprais.
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