On April 24, Hilton Tashkent City hosted VERBA LAW DAY IN TASHKENT — the main legal event of spring in Uzbekistan, bringing together representatives of business (including the pharmaceutical sector), government agencies and the legal community. The forum was structured around three thematic sessions and focused on pharmaceutical market regulation, commercial and corporate law, tax, customs and litigation.

The event was opened by the moderator of the first session, Alexander Panov, Managing Partner of VERBA LEGAL:“Today it is important to speak honestly about the problems: about regulatory overload, the gap between practice and legislation, and the risks that businesses have to take on. If we want a strong economy, we have to rebuild the rules of the game together – more boldly and more frankly than before.”

An equal‑footing dialogue
The PHARMA & GOVERNMENT session brought together lawyers and representatives of state bodies in the pharmaceutical sector to discuss current regulatory challenges and practical solutions.

Artem Elistratov, Counsel and Head of International Asset Structuring Practice at VERBA LEGAL, spoke about expanding presence in international pharmaceutical markets. He noted that in the CIS markets, localisation and import substitution remain key trends, and effective engagement with regulators and partner control are impossible without a local presence. In Southeast Asia, the main challenge is complex and fragmented regulation, which increases business dependence on the integrity of local distributors in the absence of their own representation.

The session was concluded by Mukhabbat Askarova, President of the Association of Foreign Pharmaceutical Companies and Manufacturers, who emphasised the importance of comprehensive legal support for sustainable business development in the industry.

Business within the legal framework: from investment to customs
The General Business Law Day session was moderated by Bobur Karimov, Managing Partner of VERBA LEGAL in Tashkent. Experts analysed the full cycle of entering the Uzbek market.

Ekaterina Tretyakova, Counsel and Head of Practice at VERBA LEGAL, spoke about marketing agreements, risk assessment when concluding them, and the legal and financial implications for business.

“When setting the terms of marketing agreements, it is necessary not only to allocate the rights and obligations of the parties in the civil law sense, but also to formulate detailed reporting requirements in order to avoid tax risks, to take into account the provisions of competition law, and to prevent abuses for companies that fall under the requirements of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan ‘On Competition’.”

Judicial practice: how not to lose the result
The third session, moderated by Oleg Bouiko, Senior Partner of VERBA LEGAL, focused on litigation and cross‑border enforcement.

Ernest Khachaturyan, Counsel and Attorney at VERBA LEGAL, identified key points where results are lost in Uzbek court disputes. "A court dispute is not always about who is right – it is about how consistently and competently the work is structured at each stage,” he stressed.