Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan, held a meeting with Google Vice President Karan Bhatia to discuss the launch of YouTube monetization in the country. Mirziyoyeva announced the talks on her social media page, signaling a potential breakthrough for local content creators who have long been excluded from the platform's revenue-sharing program.
During the meeting, Mirziyoyeva emphasized that Uzbekistan has significantly improved its legislation on personal data processing and digital payments in recent years. According to her, these reforms are opening broad opportunities for the free use of international payment systems. "There is potential for cooperation with the company in many areas. We have large and important tasks ahead," she stated, hinting at a broader technological partnership beyond just YouTube.
Uzbekistan remains one of the countries where the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) is not available, meaning local video creators cannot earn advertising revenue from their content. Additionally, advertisements are not shown when YouTube is viewed within Uzbekistan. Currently, monetization is only possible through foreign audiences: if a blogger runs a channel in foreign languages, earnings accumulate in an account and can be withdrawn to a card. Many channels also operate through media agencies. Alternative income sources for video bloggers include special projects, native advertising, and product placement.
Minister of Digital Technologies Sherzod Shermatov noted in 2024 that Uzbek YouTube creators could earn more by producing videos in widely spoken languages such as English. According to research by the Center for Economic Research and Reforms, Uzbekistan loses up to $50 million annually due to the absence of YouTube monetization—a significant sum for a country striving to build a digital economy.
The push for monetization is closely tied to broader legislative changes. In 2021, Uzbekistan amended its personal data law, with Article 27-1 requiring companies to store servers processing citizens' personal data within the country. On November 6, 2025, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, during a meeting with US companies in Washington, announced that legislation on personal data storage would be revised. "We are finalizing work with American partners to update the legislation. This will create opportunities for new technological partnerships, including the launch of global payment systems Apple Pay and Google Pay, the creation of digital academies, and a network of startup hubs," he said at the time.
On March 26, 2026, the President signed a law amending the personal data legislation. The document abolished the mandatory requirement to store all personal data on servers within Uzbekistan—now this requirement remains only for biometric and genetic data, as well as data of telecommunications operators' subscribers. Other personal data can be processed abroad subject to a number of conditions. This legislative shift is seen as a critical step toward attracting global tech companies.
However, the author of the Kurbanoff.net Telegram channel cautioned that removing the legislative barrier does not guarantee the immediate arrival of services. According to him, the new law sets conditions for cross-border data transfer, but several by-laws must be adopted first: a list of countries providing adequate data protection, requirements for standard contractual clauses, and a list of international data storage standards. Three months have passed, yet none of these documents have been adopted. "Until these provisions are implemented, any cross-border transfer of personal data remains legally uncertain," he stressed.
Furthermore, even after the full regulatory framework is established, Uzbekistan's inclusion in the roadmap for Apple Pay or Google Pay will remain an internal decision of the companies—legislative changes only create a legal opportunity but do not guarantee business interest in the market. At the same time, he added that the technical infrastructure for accepting contactless payments in the country is already in place: NFC-enabled terminals have become standard in shops, pharmacies, cafes, and gas stations.
Business representatives have repeatedly highlighted the problems associated with enforcing the personal data storage law. In late 2024, Oliver Hughes, Head of International Operations at TBC Bank, proposed allowing banks to store personal data in cloud storage both in Uzbekistan and abroad, noting the importance of this initiative for developing artificial intelligence in the country. In August 2025, Nika Kurdiani, CEO of TBC Uzbekistan, stated that Apple Pay and Google Pay were not entering the Uzbek market, citing the personal data law that prevents companies from storing data on foreign cloud servers as the reason. The latest talks with Google suggest that Tashkent is now actively seeking to remove these obstacles, though concrete results remain to be seen.
Source: www.gazeta.uz