In which regions did corruption crimes increase?

The number of corruption-related crimes has risen in Andijan, Namangan, Tashkent, Kashkadarya and Samarkand regions. This was announced on September 5 at a Senate plenary session during the consideration of the national report on combating corruption in Uzbekistan.

It was noted that in 2024, eight regulatory legal documents were adopted to legally support reforms in the fight against corruption.

At the same time, senators pointed out that certain shortcomings remain in this field.

In particular, in 2024, the greatest damage to state interests was caused by corruption crimes in Andijan, Tashkent, Namangan and Syrdarya regions. Meanwhile, the number of corruption-related crimes increased in Andijan, Namangan, Tashkent, Kashkadarya and Samarkand.

Most individuals convicted of corruption were employees of the preschool and school education systems, healthcare, commercial banks and the employment sector.

The Ministry of Justice reported that in 2024 it identified 337 corruption factors in 222 of more than 2,000 projects, or 11 percent. The majority of these factors were found in regulatory acts introduced by the Ministries of Economy and Finance, Ecology, Agriculture, and Higher Education, Science and Innovations.

Senators put forward several proposals to strengthen the work of the Anti-Corruption Agency, ministries, departments and local authorities, including:

•  determine urgent measures in state bodies and organizations with high crime rates based on crime analysis;
•  intensify awareness campaigns encouraging individuals to report corruption;
•  prevent excessive workloads being assigned to internal control staff of state bodies, organizations and local governments;
•  ensure regular control measures by internal oversight structures;
•  strengthen the role of ethics commissions.

At the end of the discussion, the Senate adopted a corresponding resolution.

It is worth noting that earlier, the governor of Namangan city, Anvar Otakhojaev, was detained while accepting a \$60,000 bribe. He and the head of a shoe manufacturing company allegedly demanded the payment from a citizen seeking to launch a construction business, in exchange for rights to build a multi-storey building on a 35-hectare plot and to secure financing. In addition, the governor of Sharof Rashidov district in Jizzakh region was caught taking a $30,000 bribe in exchange for permission to build eight apartment buildings on 1.7 hectares of land allocated for a secondary school.