Uzbekistan: anti-corruption NGO registered
The Ministry of Justice announced the start of the work of the analytical center “Uzbekistonda ochiklik va shaffoflik” (Openness and transparency in Uzbekistan, Transparency Uzbekistan), without specifying the initiators of its creation.
New fighters for compliance with the law, still unknown, have set themselves ambitious tasks, one of which is the introduction in Uzbekistan of international standards in the field of openness and transparency, the fight against corruption, and the rule of law.
Usually, the Ministry of Justice does not comment on the registration of new non-governmental organizations, but in this case, it made an exception to practice, which only confirms the authorities’ interest in the emergence of a new structure for the sake of improving the country’s image.
A state program was implemented in the country, within the framework of which new mechanisms for combating corruption were outlined. In July this year, President Mirziyoyev signed a decree “On measures to create an environment of uncompromising attitude to corruption, to drastically reduce corruption factors in state and public administration and expand public participation in this direction.” The wording in the title of the document formally shows the authorities’ determination to fight bribery and theft in the country.
The Anti-Corruption Agency, created in 2020, reports directly to the country’s president, reporting to parliament. Neither the decree on the establishment of the agency nor the text of the state program mentions independence in the investigation of corruption. The program mentioned the creation of numerous interdepartmental commissions along the entire vertical of power with the participation of “people’s representatives” at all levels. The list includes corrupt representatives of the deputy corps, fiscal and security agencies. For the second year already, the Agency has not been able to establish the work of the platform for informing about corrupt officials; the E-antikor website is in a test state.
“What can a new NGO really do? Nothing, the ACCA expert is sure. “Most likely, its activities for the world community will become a picture of public participation with theft and bribery in the country.”
The planned activity requires high qualifications and adequate remuneration. It is most likely that the state, as before, will take care of this. Transparency Uzbekistan was created in the image and likeness of another public organization – the Development Strategy Center, financed from the funds of state-owned enterprises. Until recently, it was headed by the current director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Akmal Burkhanov.
The English analog of the Uzbek name directly indicates the desire of its employees to get involved in global processes. The center will seek accreditation in the international organization for researching the level of corruption in the world Transparency International and plans to cooperate with other similar specialized structures. In the annual TI Corruption Perceptions Index for 2020, Uzbekistan was ranked 146th out of 180, moving up seven positions from 2019. On a 100-point index (where 0 is an extremely high level of corruption, and 100 is extremely low), the country scored 26 points.
In the meantime, the security services show real results in the fight against corruption, but they are also unable to resist elite corruption. “The Uzbek media and the blogosphere often hint at it in their publications using open data,” the ACCA expert notes.
As ACCA previously posted, President Mirziyoyev signed a decree “On measures to create an environment of uncompromising attitude to corruption, drastically reduce corruption factors in state and public administration and expand public participation in this direction.” It is planned to create an “open electronic register of persons found guilty of corruption offenses.” They are prohibited from entering the civil service and further awarding them with state awards. And this did not lead to a reduction in crime in the highest echelons of power.
The Anti-Corruption Agency, for example, has continued to study since April and cannot in any way assess the transfer of large state orders to the Trest-12 company, where the son and wife of the Minister of Construction Batyr Zakirov are among the shareholders. The official himself easily repulsed accusations of a conflict of interest, confirming the work of his relatives at Trest-12.
“Decisions on the appropriation of projects without a tender are made by the Cabinet of Ministers and the President, and they do not depend on him or his family,” the minister said. In recent years, Trest-12 has coped with government orders totaling over $ 135 million without tenders.
On September 20, the online edition Gazeta.uz published information on a conflict of interest. The company won the tender for the supply of grape seedlings for almost a million dollars; the founder is the son of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, head of the National Center for Knowledge and Innovation in Agriculture (customer) Alisher Turaev.
