Dear friends,

We would like to invite you to discuss an important topic. We will be especially grateful if businessmen and lawyers who understand what a socially responsible business is, or maybe just businessmen and lawyers with an active life position, who are not indifferent to the things that are happening around them, intervene in the matter.

Say a word about the poor saiga! We need advice, comments, instructions from people who are versed in business .. Please help .. By your own word .. This is very important ..

This is a real chance to help nature, to help in specific terms, and not just hypothetically. I apologize in advance if it is a little detailed, but this is necessary to describe the essence of the problem.

So.

Currently, a project on saiga conservation is being prepared in the GEF SGP. The project is being prepared by Elena Bykova, perhaps the greatest saiga specialist not only in Uzbekistan, but in the region as a whole. She is preparing a project with the support of the Saiga Conservation Alliance and local Karakalpak NGOs.

Who does not know what a saiga is, then, in short, we can say that it is now the most threatened species on the planet, which has survived since the time of the dinosaurs, and is now on the verge of complete extinction. A little over 30 years ago, we had millions of saigas in Ustyurt. Now you can count as good luck if you see a group of 2-4 animals. You can view the saiga essays on the Alliance website (click here). There are all issues in Russian. The site itself, unfortunately, is in English.

Photo of a male saiga (via the Saiga Conservation Alliance website)

The idea of ​​the project is to approach the solution of the saiga problem from an economic point of view. The fact is that the locals do not kill saigas out of a good life. And this is understandable and understandable. The meat is sold or eaten by themselves. But mostly in the recent past, saigas were killed because of their horns, which were sold for the production of traditional medicines. Mainly to China.

There are two ways: 1) chasing poachers all over Ustyurt, and / or using other forceful methods to clamp down on them - this is a useful way and it is needed, but this requires the state will and desire to do it. We (the PMGEF) cannot do this. 2) You can try to stimulate them in a different way, switch them to other types of income, so that doing something else was more profitable than poaching. Again, we cannot take and suddenly create a prosperous market on the Ustyurt plateau, where the population is very small. You need to start somewhere.

The enthusiasts got the idea to start by involving women in the business. Why? Because Ustyurt is inhabited mainly by Kazakhs, and in Kazakh families the word “woman” weighs much more than in traditional Uzbek families. A woman in a family can greatly influence the decision of men what to do. And women are more inclined to try something that can benefit the family.

But what business will bring real income that can be considered an alternative ?!

It may seem hackneyed and banal, but the production of products with local embroidery is proposed as a model. Possibly saiga-themed. The idea is further, in which allies from abroad help and will help - to sell this embroidery in zoos in Great Britain and Europe. Why there? Because it's just that there are connections already. In the future, the market may expand to America and Australia. Embroidered products can be in the shape of a laptop or phone bag, or a wallet. Something cheap but pleasant for anyone. Of course, everything with a story about the saiga will be presented there ... And with an additional bonus, "the money earned from the sale of these products contributes to the preservation of the saiga." But...

It will be sold at zoos for a small extra markup. There will be an extra markup precisely because the money for the products will be spent on preserving nature. In this case, for the preservation of the saiga. Zoos will take over the sale if they have that confidence. That means we need to create such a mechanism. So far, the idea is in the air, that it is necessary to create a workshop, a cooperative (in 3 villages), which will produce products with embroidery. The cooperative will employ women (and maybe men) whose family members are not seen in any activity that damages the saiga. Those. if a family buys meat or even, God forbid, kills a saiga, then their membership in receiving dividends from this business will be immediately closed. There are only 3 villages in Ustyurt. Everyone knows each other, so nothing can be hidden. We plan to organize 1 workshop in each of the villages. In other words, if someone finds out about another family seen in the saiga trade, they will shout loudly ... Because the fewer people in the business, the greater the share of each. And maybe that's not why .. the system of public censure should start working .. The goal is to achieve a situation where the killing of a saiga would be an anti-public and shameful business for the family.

The coordination of this work and control over the process is undertaken by a local NNO from Nukus.

Now for the help we need. We need the opinion of business experts on how to organize everything correctly. We are concerned about the following questions:

1) What is the best form of legal entity that will best suit our project goals? Do I need to create a cooperative, or OOO, or ZAO, or anything else that is provided for by our civil code? The most common form now is OOO. But there are many other forms in the code. We need as many women as possible from 3 villages in Ustyurt to be involved in the process of production and distribution of profits. How best to organize this so that we do not step on a rake that we may not know simply because of our inexperience in business.

2) If you advise this or that form of legal entity, perhaps you will immediately advise or consult on the legal aspect of their work? What are the positive and negative nuances of creating a particular form of business? Perhaps, what is the best way to organize the management of such an organization?

3) It should be borne in mind that such an organization should have the right to export goods abroad, i.e. sell goods to third parties abroad. What pitfalls can there be? What are the legal requirements for exporting? is it difficult to organize? How to get the most out of the sale of such goods abroad for foreign currency? How and to whom is it better to sell the currency? What are the recommendations for using it? What advice will be on this score?

4) What form of taxation will be optimal for the created organization? What kindfees and other costs need to be borne in mind when starting an export business in Uzbekistan?

5) Are there any special rules and procedures for receiving currency from abroad to a company account in Uzbekistan?

We would be very grateful if you can help us with advice. Any comments are appreciated. Please share this discussion with your friends through your contacts, through social networks. We welcome any form of feedback - both public on the site so that others can see the discussion, and directly to our contact e-mail addresses - alexey.volkov@undp.org or for Elena Bykova at esipov@xnet.uz.

You can also find the discussion on the PMGEF Facebook page. Leave comments there too.
We are looking forward to your feedback. Respond and help save the saiga in Uzbekistan.

And yet - we think, is it not necessary to organize such a round table in real time - so that people come and express their point of view? What do you think? We want businessmen to come and give concrete proposals