During the 24th plenary session of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the director of the Anti-Corruption Agency reported on the work done by the Agency to ensure the openness of the activities of government agencies and organizations.

He noted that due to the reforms initiated by the head of state in recent years, mechanisms have been effectively implemented to ensure openness and transparency in the activities of government agencies and organizations, and the work of the institution of public control has been established.

In particular, the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan 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 a clear procedure for ensuring openness of the activities of government agencies, preventing corruption factors and offenses.

In accordance with the requirements of this Decree, the Agency regularly studies the status of posting open information on the official websites and the Open Data Portal by ministries and departments, as well as local government authorities.

For example, government agencies and organizations must post a report on their activities on their official websites by March 1 of each year, and inform of the place and time of a press conference with public participation by March 10.

The monitoring showed that 93 out of 135 government agencies and organizations did not publish a report on their activities for 2021, and 126 did not post information about the place and time of the press conference on their official websites.

In addition, an analysis of compliance with the requirements for the quarterly placement of information on public procurement by all government agencies and organizations showed that 80 government agencies and organizations did not place information for the 4th quarter of last year on their resources.

88 government agencies and organizations untimely posted reports on expenses for business trips and reception of foreign guests.

Also, the result of studying the broadcast on local TV channels or on the Internet of sessions of regional, district and city Councils of People’s Representatives from December 1, 2021 to January 10, 2022 showed that 226 out of 585 sessions were not broadcast at all. The worst indicators in this regard are in Bukhara Region, Navoi Region and the Republic of Karakalpakstan.

The state of implementation of the Decree was also studied in the context of local government authorities. According to the List of Socially Significant Information to be posted as open data, local authorities are required to publish a total of 13 categories of information on their official websites on a quarterly basis and update them periodically.

However, a study of compliance with these requirements in 2021 revealed a total of 95 cases of violation, in other words, this information was not published on the official websites of hokimiyats.

In the context of districts and cities, 43 (20%) out of 204 district and city hokimiyats do not have active official websites, and the information has not been updated for a long time.

The Agency sent 26 statutory notices and 35 warning letters to ministries, departments and local government authorities to eliminate violations.

As a solution to the local problems encountered in this track, it was decided to choose one region and, as an example, organize the implementation of openness legislation. To this end, the project ‘Open, Transparent and Accountable Region’ was launched in Ferghana Region, for which a draft Road Map was developed and posted on the official website of the regional administration.

Public hearings will be held in Ferghana Region on the work done in the field of combating corruption, including the openness of the activities of government agencies and organizations. Local members of the Councils of People’s Representatives, as well as NGO and media representatives will be involved in evaluating the effectiveness of the work, and a self-assessment system will be created.

At the meeting, the government was entrusted with the task of critically reviewing the activities of the heads of government agencies and organizations that did not publish socially significant information in a timely manner and made mistakes, as well as strengthening their responsibility at that.

Press Office

The Anti-Corruption Agency