In Samarkand, education official includes his son and nephew in foreign delegation

The head of the Samarkand Regional Department of Preschool and School Education, Muzaffar Hamdamov, included his son and nephew in the official delegation sent to Russia. This was reported by Samarkand-based blogger and civic activist Khayrulla Mamasoliyev.

“If you are the child of someone influential, you end up eating the cake paid for from the budget, the biscuits too, and if you are still not full, you even take the bread from the hands of ordinary people. Live well, Vasiliy, well done…,” the blogger wrote.

According to the list shared by the blogger, two out of ten participants bore the surname Yazdonkulov and appeared to be younger than the others. It later emerged that one of the boys was the department head’s son and the other his nephew. Hamdamov himself confirmed this in the comments under the post. Notably, in his responses on social media, the official wrote that he had not realized that this was wrong and even sinful.

“My son took part in the event. My nephew went along as well. I regret it. Had I known how serious a wrongdoing it was, I would not have allowed it. Ulugbek’s fault is that he is the son of a department head. It is wrong, my son Ulugbek’s participation was wrong. He should not have gone. You are right. That boy is not outstanding like the others. He went because I told him to, even though he did not want to. I admit it, it was wrong for him to go,” Hamdamov wrote.

In response to the situation, the Samarkand Regional Department of Preschool and School Education issued a vague statement. According to the department, an initial team of 15 people, consisting of 14 gifted students and one responsible official, had been formed for the trip. However, due to some participants’ passports not being ready on time and some parents refusing to give consent, the final list was reduced to eight top-performing students and two responsible officials. In total, ten participants from the region took part in the event. The group was supervised by Gulmira Salimova, a qualified specialist fluent in Russian.

It should be recalled that earlier Samarkand regional governor Adiz Boboev stated that leaders must set a personal example in the fight against corruption, emphasizing that corruption starts from the top and spreads downward, and that the public sees and knows everything, including who builds which houses and who buys which cars.

It is worth noting that earlier in Bukhara, accountants were detained for attempting to receive kickbacks from budget funds.