Capital City: Tashkent
Currency and exchange rate: Uzbek som (UZS); 1 EUR = 3008.19 UZS; 1 USD = 2649.22 UZS (FX in October 2015)
Language: Uzbek, Russian
Country code and internet domain: 998 / .uz
Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz
Time: UTC + 5
Useful phones:
• Police – 02
• Ambulance – 03, 133-6854, 136-7332, 169-7085
• Firefighters – 01
• Special Situations – 136-2292
• Rescue Service – 050
• Accident Bureau – 569-658, 133-2814
Visas
CIS citizens with passports do not need visa, but citizens of EU countries can enter Uzbekistan after obtaining a visa. Duration of stay permitted by the visa may be 30 days, 3 months, 1 year and transit visa. The types of visas are tourist, business, work, professional activities, transit.
Attention! Romania doesn’t have an embassy of Uzbekistan. Visas can be obtained from the nearest diplomatic representative, the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Ukraine (Kiev) and the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Turkey (Ankara) or the General Consulate of Uzbekistan in Istanbul (Turkey).
Uzbekistan introduced the electronic visa application on-line. The new system enables applications to obtain a visa to be submitted on the website: http://evisa.mfa.uz.
However, in the mountainous areas near the borders with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, including large parts of the National Park Ugam-Chatkal and National Park Zaamin, travel permits are required.
Road traffic
The traffic system is similar to the European Union. Uzbekistan has a well developed road infrastructure with many highways and roads.
Speed limits admitted:
- 60 km/h in towns
- 90 km/h outside localities
- 110 km/h on the highway
Driving license
Local authorities do not recognize the Romanian driving licenses. A Romanian citizen who wishes to drive a vehicle in Uzbekistan must hold either an international driver’s license or the person responsible with the application will submit to the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Service) the following documents:
- application form
- copy of the passport on which visa is applied in Uzbekistan
- copy of the national driver’s license
- a document certifying health
Based on these documents you will obtain a provisional driving license. That permit is issued within 24 hours, it costs 35 USD, plus a fee equal to 20% of the permit and is valid for the entire period of the visa, strictly on the territory of Uzbekistan (source MAE).
Customs regulations
At the border crossing, all amounts must be declared, otherwise it is possible to be confiscated. It is mandatory for all citizens over the age of 16 years to complete at entry customs form T-6 in two copies (one remains at customs authorities, and the other will be given to the owner, who is required to keep and give when exiting the country). At the request, it is possible for a foreign citizen to keep the amount, free of charge, but is mandatory completing the TS-21.
If the amount exceeds 5,000 USD, you have to complete a special form (TS-28) under the same conditions as form T-6.
When leaving the country, if the amount in foreign currency is higher than the one declared upon entry, you must show a document issued by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU) or from other authorized banking company.
Foreigners are allowed to enter in the country with more than 5 items of precious metals and stones, not exceeding in total 30g.
Roads
UNTRR caravan entered the country on the border with Turkmenistan (Farab) and went on the road Bukhara – Samarkand – Tashkent (totaling nearly 700 km). The road on this route is good, being at a highway level.
Car Insurance is not required when entering the country, but if you want to buy one it costs about 50 USD.
On the main road for transit in Uzbekistan there is a lot of police, but if traffic rules are complied there are no problems. The speed limit is 50 km/h in localities and 100 km/h outside localities. Attention! Speed cameras are frequent, however road signs are missing.
The total length of road network in Uzbekistan is 180,000 km, of which 4,600 km represents international roads. According to national statistics, road transport is responsible for 6% of the international transport of goods and 88% of domestic transport of goods and passengers.
Fuel
Gasoline is the main fuel in Uzbekistan, in exchange diesel is difficult to impossible to find. Our recommendation is to have more diesel canisters with you. Otherwise, you can find fuel from other trucks or you can ask taxi drivers, who are connoisseurs of local fuel market.
A liter of diesel costs about 2,200 UZS (about 0.73 EUR).
