Starting Friday, foreigners in Uzbekistan will have to pay for plane tickets for all domestic and international flights in foreign currency.

The government of the central Asian country announced the new regulation Wednesday.

Under the new regulation, foreigners purchasing airline tickets in Uzbekistan must pay for them with foreign currency instead of the Uzbek som. Uzbek nationals must also use foreign currency if the starting point of the flight is outside Uzbek borders.

The Uzbek news agency reports that airlines or travel agencies that fail to abide by the rule will have to pay a surcharge of 100 percent of the sale price of the ticket, payable to the state budget.