This March 10, the Anti-Corruption Agency held a press conference on the 2021 activity outcomes.

The press conference in the format of a report to the Public Council brought together the Agency’s leadership and key specialists, members of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Agency and regional councils, as well as media representatives and bloggers.

Akmal Burkhanov, Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, presented detailed information on the work done in 2021.

Last year the Agency introduced a number of important changes to strengthen the legal framework for combating corruption, in particular, to prevent corruption and ensure the inevitability of punishment for these crimes. Including, Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PD-6257 dated July 6, 2021 ‘On measures to create an environment of intolerant attitude towards corruption, radically reduce corruption factors in state and public administration, as well as broad public involvement in this process.’

According to the document, punishment for crimes related to corruption have been toughened, and restrictions have been introduced on the use of mitigating norms in the execution of criminal punishments.

Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PD-6247 of June 16, 2021 ‘On additional measures to ensure the openness of the activities of government agencies and organizations, as well as the effective implementation of public control’ provides for the disclosure of all information that taxpayers need to know, in general, about the work done and planned work of each organization, its financial condition, and the property at its disposal.

Important changes have also been made to the Public Procurement Law: from January 1, 2022, all public procurement procedures (selection of the best proposals and tenders) are carried out in electronic form. Restrictions on participation in public procurement of persons included in the unified register of unscrupulous contractors have been reduced from three to two years.

The press conference also touched upon the analysis of corruption-related crimes.

In 2021, 3,769 criminal cases of corruption against 5,483 people across the country were sent to the courts for consideration. Compared to 2020, the number of criminal cases sent to court increased by 2,621, and the number of persons prosecuted increased by 3,760, or 218 percent.

In 2020, as a result of corruption-related crimes, the state and society suffered material damage in the amount of 500 billion 102 million soums, of which 355 billion soums or 71 percent reimbursed. And in 2021, the amount of material damage amounted to 1 trillion 282 billion soums, of which 887 billion soums or 69.1 percent reimbursed.

In 2021, the Anti-Corruption Agency received a total of 4,901 appeals (493 of which are duplicates), all appeals were considered in the prescribed manner. 107 of these appeals were received during personal receptions of the Agency’s director and his field visits.

258 appeals were resolved positively, 1163 appeals were satisfied with the provision of legal advice and clarifications, two appreciation letters received, two appeals were rejected based on citizens’ applications, 117 appeals were recognized anonymous, 43 appeals were accepted for information, consideration of 158 repeated appeals was terminated in the prescribed manner, 3158 appeals sent to the relevant ministries and departments.

In 2021, the Agency organized more than 50 studies in regions and sectors as part of the Sphere without Corruption Project and Region without Corruption Project, as well as within the framework of the Prosperous Village (Obod Qishloq) and Prosperous Community (Obod Mahalla) Programs. In addition, the Agency’s specialists conducted studies at 59 construction sites on public procurement in the construction sector for a total of 461.3 billion soums.

In total, 49 criminal cases and 24 administrative cases were initiated by sending the collected documents to law enforcement agencies on revealed facts of corruption.

Remote monitoring of public procurement in 2021 revealed violations of the Laws ‘On Public Procurement’ and ‘On Competition’ in 452 tenders worth 145.3 billion soums, 372 statutory notices were submitted to eliminate the causes and conditions for committing corruption offenses, and misuse of budget funds was prevented by canceling the tender.

In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of July 6, 2021, the Agency is responsible for the implementation and effective functioning of the Internal Anti-Corruption Control Units in government and economic management bodies, enterprises with a state share in the authorized capital, including banks.

To date, the Internal Anti-Corruption Control Units operate in 88 government agencies, the work of 52 of which is not fully established.

The Agency submitted 34 statutory notices aimed at eliminating shortcomings in the work of the Internal Anti-Corruption Control Units.

The Agency studied and analyzed the observance by local authorities of their obligations to post socially significant information on the official website and other information resources.

The studies showed that the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the administrations of Andijan, Bukhara, Jizzakh and Navoi regions provided partial disclosure of information on the performance over target and the intended use of these funds, while the administrations of Tashkent, Khorezm, Samarkand, Sirdarya and Ferghana regions and the city of Tashkent did not these obligations at all.

Thirteen administrations that did not ensure the disclosure of socially significant information were issued official warnings to eliminate violations.

In 2021, the Agency signed 10 international cooperation documents (memorandums, cooperation programs).

In particular, a methodology for the formation of the National Corruption Perceptions Index was developed as part of the Action Plan between the Agency and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, international experts were involved to improve the activities of the National Anti-Corruption Council, cooperation was established with civil society institutions in organizing trainings to conduct social research, etc.

The press conference also touched upon the work carried out within the framework of the Sphere Without Corruption Project to prevent corruption in the field of capital construction.

It was noted that since January 1, 2021, the Transparent Construction National Information System has been developed and launched in real time in all regions of the country. In addition, in order to prevent corruption, openness and transparency of public procurement in the construction sector, tender.mc.uz electronic portal was created to conduct tenders in the construction sector.

With the help of this platform, tenders worth 15.45 trillion soums were held in 2021, contracts for 14.26 trillion soums were signed with construction contractors, and 1.19 billion soums or 8 percent of the budget were saved compared to the initial cost of projects.

At the end of the press conference, media representatives and members of the Public Council, actively cooperating with the Agency, were presented with letters of thanks from the leadership of the Anti-Corruption Agency.

Press Office
The Anti-Corruption Agency