Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - The National Agency for Project Management under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan warns of possible risks associated with the Mangu.uz project.

The project was implemented by AQLEGALARI LLC. The project launched the following elements:

- conventional unit “MNG”, equal to one pixel from the advertising platform;

- an advertising platform for advertising information;

- exchange for trading conventional units "MNG";

- a special trading platform for the sale of goods for conventional units “MNG”;

- various channels and bots on social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, etc.) to provide information on the sale and purchase of "MNG", as well as other project news.

However, as part of the analysis of the project, a number of conflicting, inaccurate and misleading information was identified, as well as inconsistencies with the requirements of the current legislation, in particular:

1) the project is positioned as an innovative solution, but the idea of selling pixels has existed since 2005. So, after creating the milliondollarhomepage.com web page, a lot of similar projects appeared. However, most of these projects were aimed at quickly enriching their creators, by selling pixels on one page, and buyers did not receive the proper number of visitors from such advertising;

2) the creators of the project claim that “MNG” is not a cryptocurrency, the organizers position the conditional units “MNG” as a cryptocurrency, supposedly hinting at the connection of the conditional unit “MNG” with crypto assets. The main motive for the name “MNG” as a currency can be the possibility of using tax preferences (according to the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated July 3, 2018 No. PP-3832 “On measures for the development of the digital economy in the Republic of Uzbekistan”, operations of legal entities and individuals related to turnover crypto assets are not subject to taxation, and income received from these operations is not included in the tax base for taxes and other obligatory payments).

The following statement is given on the project website (stylistics, spelling and punctuation saved):

“A brand, in addition to trading through the soums in the Mangu wallet, can generate revenue from trading by accepting the Mangu pixels in a special electronic wallet attached to it. At the same time, Brands in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated July 3, 2018 No. PP-3832 do not pay taxes for monetary relations carried out with pixels in the form of digital assets. They can be fully exempted from income taxes paid in the amount of 5% to 23%.”

It should be noted that the project does not use blockchain technology and cryptography in its activities, the conventional units of “MNG” are clearly not crypto assets. Despite this, using the misleading term “free currency”, the project organizers and all its participants did not pay tax on income received, illegally referring to the benefits established by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated July 3, 2018 No. PP-3832 “On development measures digital economy in the Republic of Uzbekistan.”

According to the report posted on the World Wide Web, in 2019, the turnover of its participants amounted to 4 billion soums.

The Agency sent an appeal to the tax authorities on the study of the legality of using the benefits by the organizers and participants of the project;

3) in accordance with the resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated July 3, 2018 No. PP-3832 “On measures for the development of the digital economy in the Republic of Uzbekistan”, activities in the field of the circulation of crypto assets, including the creation of crypto exchanges for trading crypto assets, are subject to licensing . At the same time, the AQLEGALARI LLC Agency did not issue a license to carry out activities in the field of crypto assets turnover;

4) in addition to the “free currency” on the project’s website, the conventional units “MNG” are also defined as “pixel”, “bond”, “tokens”, “shares”, “electronic money”, etc.

According to available information, AQL EGALARI LLC also failed to comply with the requirements for the issue of bonds or shares established by the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the securities market.

In addition, according to the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Payments and Payment Systems”, electronic money can be issued exclusively by commercial banks;

5) in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On currency regulation”, the national currency of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the currency unit “sum” and all payments and payments for goods (work, services) on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan are made in the national currency of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Also, this Law does not allow the binding of prices for sold goods (works, services) in the Republic of Uzbekistan to foreign currencies and conventional units.

Thus, in the activities of the organizers of the Mangu project there are signs of violation of the requirements of the legislation in the tax and currency spheres, as well as the securities market.

Given the insecurity of MNG’s conventional units with real assets and the lack of necessary permits to carry out activities, the Agency warns citizens from investing their funds in such dubious projects.

The Agency sent information about the activities of the Mangu project and its organizers to the regulatory and law enforcement authorities of the Republic of Uzbekistan for taking legal measures.