Tanlo data · Updated: October 18, 2026 · 10 min read

Construction tenders in Uzbekistan: why price doesn't decide who wins

Most public construction tenders in Uzbekistan are not run on the main exchange, xarid.uzex.uz, but on a separate platform operated by the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services (the construction ministry): tender.mc.uz. We loaded its open archive of results into the Tanlo database and found a striking pattern. Of the contracting tenders announced in 2026, 10,009 ended with a winner, and in 9,600 of them the winner cut the price by exactly 5%. Here is why that happens, what actually decides the outcome, and who the platform will not even let submit a bid.

Tanlo data as of 18 October 2026: current lots and the tender.mc.uz results archive. Methodology at the end of the article.

Where public construction tenders take place

New construction, reconstruction and major repairs of facilities funded from the state budget under targeted programmes are procured through the ministry's Electronic Tender System: tender.mc.uz, with a new interface at shaffofxarid.uz. It has its own rulebook: Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 46 of 31 January 2022 (a government regulation) and the regulation on tendering procedure attached to it. Under para. 2 of the resolution, contractors for these projects are selected only through this platform and only by rating. There is no procurement committee: the platform evaluates the bids itself.

There are exceptions (para. 6 of the regulation). Projects funded by international financial institutions follow their own rules, although many of them are also posted on tender.mc.uz. Direct contracts awarded under presidential decrees and government resolutions, reserve funds, emergencies and defence are also outside its scope. For contracts below 6,000 BRV (the base calculation amount, a reference unit set by the government and equal to UZS 440,000 since 1 September 2026), which works out to UZS 2.64 billion, the regulation has been advisory only since late 2025, yet such lots still appear on this platform in large numbers.

The figures show the scale. Between 5 and 17 October 2026, tender.mc.uz published 846 contracting tenders with a combined starting price of UZS 3.2 trillion. Over the same days, xarid.uzex.uz and xt-xarid.uz carried 272 construction lots worth roughly UZS 454 billion. In money terms, the ministry's platform is almost 7 times larger. Anyone who looks for construction tenders only on the exchanges misses most of the budget-funded construction market.

A typical lot is about UZS 1.6 billion (median); 179 of the 846 are below UZS 1 billion. Andijan (108), Namangan (106) and Bukhara (90) regions lead by number of tenders, while Tashkent city has 19. The largest lot in October is a water supply and sewerage project in the Mukumiy mahalla (neighbourhood) of Asaka district, worth UZS 72 billion.

Why winners cut the price by exactly 5%

That is how the rules are built. Under para. 23 of the regulation, the bid price including VAT may be no higher than the starting price and no lower than 95% of it. The construction period cannot be changed either: it is set by the customer. The platform simply rejects a bid with a discount above 5% or a different completion period (para. 35).

The platform then calculates the score itself (para. 35):

Final score = rating score × 0.8 + price points (up to 20) − number of projects × (rating score × 0.05)

Price points are awarded linearly: 4 points for each percent of discount, up to a maximum of 20 at a 5% discount. Every percent left on the table costs 4 points, so almost every winner bids the floor of 95%. Identical 5% discounts among winners are not a sign of collusion; they are a direct result of the rules. Price competition is only possible within a 0–5% corridor, and nearly everyone uses that corridor in full.

With prices equal, two things decide the outcome:

• The contractor's rating in the "Shaffof qurilish" ("Transparent Construction") national information system. It takes into account staff, financial performance, competitiveness, experience, machinery and facilities, and occupational safety.
• Workload. For every unfinished contract, whether won on the platform or signed directly, 5% of your rating score is deducted from your final score. Once the project is handed over, the deduction is removed automatically (para. 10(zh)).

If final scores are exactly equal, the bidder who submitted first wins (para. 36).

Who will not be admitted

The platform checks each bidder by TIN (taxpayer identification number, known locally as INN or STIR) when the bid is submitted, and again before results are determined (paras. 23 and 34). If a tax debt appears in between, the bidder is excluded. The main conditions:

• Region. Lots below 200,000 BRV (about UZS 88 billion) are open only to legal entities registered in the same region; Tashkent city and Tashkent region count as one region. The restriction does not apply to projects of hazard category III–IV (construction projects are graded from I to IV by their level of technical and safety risk) (para. 9). All October lots fall below this threshold, so as a rule a Tashkent company will not be allowed to bid for tenders in Andijan.
• A rating no lower than the required class, depending on the lot price and the project's hazard category (para. 26). For category I–II projects below 20,000 BRV (about UZS 8.8 billion), the lowest class, D, is enough; more expensive projects require C, CC, CCC and higher. If there were no bids or only one, the requirement automatically drops by one step (para. 27).
• Free capacity no smaller than the lot's starting price. Commitments for the current year may not exceed twice the largest annual volume of work in the past three years, and the remaining headroom is compared with the lot price. Judging by the wording of the rule, a company with no completed volumes has zero capacity: it has to start with subcontracting or non-budget work.
• No overdue debts on taxes or bank loans, and nothing in "card file No. 2", the queue of unpaid claims against a company's bank account.
• The company is not on the register of unscrupulous contractors (how to stay off it) or on the tax authority's list of questionable businesses. Its VAT payer certificate is active and its property is not under seizure.
• No delays on its own general contracting projects and no unfulfilled contracts in the Treasury system.
• No affiliation with the customer or other bidders, and the company is not in liquidation or bankruptcy. If the type of work requires a licence, a licence is needed (para. 28). Ordinary construction and installation work does not require one.

The capacity rule also applies after the auction: the platform awards a win only where the remaining headroom is sufficient (para. 38). Among failed tenders in the archive there is a dedicated reason: "the winner's volume exceeded by more than 2 times".

How to get into the "Shaffof qurilish" rating

There is no need to apply. Under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 699 of 9 November 2020, legal entities registered in Uzbekistan whose main activity is construction and installation work are included automatically. The statistics agency supplies the list once a quarter, and scores are calculated from data held by the tax authority, the Ministry of Labour and other agencies. A new company will not appear in the rating immediately, only with the next quarterly list.

The scale runs from AAA (at least 85% of the maximum possible score) to D (less than 5%). You can look up your position by TIN at reyting.mc.uz. Scores go up with officially employed staff, machinery on the balance sheet and completed volumes of work.

How much money you need to start

The good news: in 2022 the requirement to hold working capital of at least 20% of the lot value, or a bank guarantee for that amount, was abolished (para. 2 of Resolution No. 46 as amended by Resolution No. 665). The remaining costs are as follows.

Example: with a 1% deposit, a UZS 1.6 billion lot ties up UZS 16 million until the results are in. The winner must perform at least 60% of the work with its own resources, so you cannot win a lot and pass it entirely to a subcontractor.

How tough the competition is

• A completed tender typically has 4 bidders; half have between 3 and 6. Tenders with one or two bidders make up 20%.
• In 2026, 10,009 wins were shared among 2,517 companies, 455 of which won exactly once. The 100 largest winners account for about 30% of total contract value.
• Of the 12,399 contracting tenders of 2026 with a final result, 2,218 (almost 18%) failed. In 1,012 of them there were no bids at all, and in another 991 only one bid arrived; under the rules, a tender with a single bidder is deemed failed. Such lots are re-published, and on a repeat round the rating requirement may drop by one step. That is a real opportunity for smaller companies.

Almost half of October's contracting tenders are roads (386 of 846), followed by utility networks (193) and repairs (134).

Four mistakes that cost bidders the tender and money

1. Missing the acceptance. After the results, the winner has 1 working day to confirm acceptance (formal confirmation that it takes the contract) in its account on the platform. If it does not, the deposit is forfeited and the company is barred from the platform for 24 months (paras. 40–41). Put a phone number in your account that someone checks every day.
2. Spotting the lot too late. For 83% of October lots, less than 8 days pass between publication and the bid deadline. The regulation (para. 24) sets a period of 12 to 30 working days, but according to our data this is mostly observed for lots above UZS 2.64 billion (median about 16 days). For cheaper lots, bidders usually get about a week to study the cost estimate, visit the site and transfer the deposit. Bidding closes at 23:59 on the last day, so do not leave your submission to the final evening.
3. Not tracking workload and capacity. Every unfinished contract costs points, and the commitment limit can block a win even after the auction.
4. Looking in the wrong place. Capital construction, reconstruction and major repairs under state programmes are on tender.mc.uz. Routine repairs of budget-funded institutions, building materials and purchases by state-owned companies are on xarid.uzex.uz and xt-xarid.uz (our guide to small construction lots). Projects for private and corporate customers are on their own portals (our guide to private construction tenders).

What to do this week

1. Look up your company by TIN at reyting.mc.uz and check its rating class.
2. Calculate your capacity: twice your best annual volume over three years, minus this year's commitments. If it is below a lot's starting price, your bid will not be accepted.
3. Clear any debts on taxes, loans and card file No. 2: the platform sees them on its own and checks twice.
4. Keep enough on your account for deposits (usually 0.5–1% of the value of the lots you are interested in) and for the non-refundable operator fee.
5. Set up alerts for construction tenders in your region. In the Tanlo catalogue, tender.mc.uz lots sit alongside exchange lots, and each comes with its cost estimate files and this customer's past winners.

How we calculated

Current lots: Tanlo database, source tender.mc.uz, type "contracting", published from 5 to 17 October 2026 inclusive. The platform was connected to Tanlo on 14 October 2026; data from 5 October onwards is complete. Duplicates with identical title, price and customer were removed: 846 of 886 records remained. Comparison with the exchanges: lots in the "Construction and repair" category, excluding design work, on xarid.uzex.uz (140 lots, UZS 331 billion) and xt-xarid.uz (132 lots, UZS 123 billion) over the same days; categories are assigned by Tanlo's AI, so the comparison is approximate. Results come from the open tender.mc.uz archive in the Tanlo database (export completed 17 October 2026): contracting tenders announced in 2026. Discount = 1 − contract price / starting price. Rules are based on Cabinet of Ministers Resolutions No. 46 of 31.01.2022 (as amended 21.07.2026) and No. 699 of 09.11.2020 on lex.uz as of 18 October 2026.

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