Implementation of the State Anti-Corruption Policy

According to Article 8¹ of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan On Combating Corruption’, the Anti-Corruption Agency is entrusted with the task of formulation and implementation of a State Anti-Corruption Policy.

As part of this task, the Agency coordinates the activities of ministries and departments in the field of preventing and combating corruption and organizes their effective interaction.

The Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan, within its powers:

-       develops strategies and state anti-corruption programs and ensures their implementation;

-       develops draft regulations aimed at strengthening the legal framework for the fight against corruption;

-       provides a systematic analysis of the state of corruption in the country, and also studies areas with high risks of corruption, the causes and conditions for the commission of corruption offenses;

-       ensures compliance with the requirements of the UN Convention against Corruption, and also implements systematic measures to develop international cooperation in this track and strengthen the country’s image and increase its position in international rankings;

-       annually prepares a National Anti-Corruption Report;

-       supports the activities of civil society institutions, the media and other representatives of the non-government sector to establish public control.

The Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan may exercise other powers in accordance with the law.

I. State Anti-Corruption Policy in Uzbekistan is implemented through the adoption of State Anti-Corruption Programs.

Based on the Anti-Corruption Law (2017), over the past period, 3 state programs were adopted for every two years (2017, 2019 and 2021).

The State Anti-Corruption Program 2021-2022 defines tasks consisting of 44 points in 5 areas, and all necessary measures have been taken to ensure their timely implementation.

As part of the implementation of the State Program:

1. Drafts of 9 laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2 decrees and 4 resolutions of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2 resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers have been developed.

In particular, the Law ‘On the State Civil Service’ was adopted, defining the legal status of civil servants, responsibilities, restrictions and measures to prevent corruption.

2. The procedure for anti-corruption expertise of legal acts and their drafts is being improved, and existing legal acts are gradually subjected to anti-corruption expertise.

(In total, over the past period of 2022, anti-corruption expertise conducted of 1,860 existing legal acts, which identified more than 350 corruption factors in 243 of them (13 percent). 82 acts were declared invalid, against which Regulatory Guillotine was used.)

3. The activities of financial control bodies were regulated and the Electronic Comptroller-Auditor software complex was created to analyze the risk of violation of budget legislation.

Measures were taken to prevent corruption in the public procurement system, and the practice of constant monitoring of public procurement and publication of results was established.

4. A rating system for assessing the effectiveness of anti-corruption work in government bodies and organizations has been introduced.

Within the framework of this system, the activities of 24 government organizations were assessed on an experimental basis.

(according to the assessment results, 3 organizations came ‘good’ (81-100 points), 10 organizations – ‘satisfactory’ (55-80 points), and 11 organizations – ‘unsatisfactory’ (below 55 points).

The activities of the ministries of construction, higher and secondary specialized education, public education, health care, the Cadaster Agency under the State Tax Committee, and the administrations of Boka and Mirzo-Ulugbek districts were assessed as unsatisfactory.

5. An electronic system for assessing corruption risks in the activities of government bodies was launched.

E-Anticor.uz electronic platform assesses corruption risks and maintains an Electronic Register of Relations Prone to Corruption. The Register reflects a list of positions with high corruption risks and ensures its openness to the public.

6. The List of socially significant information subject to placement as open data has been expanded by two items, and today their number reached 35 (previously 33). The Openness Index has been introduced, aimed at assessing the efficacy and efficiency of work in ensuring openness in government bodies and organizations.

(The Openness Index is assessed based on 8 indicators (84 evaluation criteria) and is divided into ‘green’, ‘yellow’ and ‘red’ categories)

7. Special software was launched to report cases of corruption, and the work of the Call Center with the short number 1253 was established.

(In 2022, the Call Center received 2,300 appeals, in 2,100 cases of which citizens were provided with legal advice, and in 200 cases the Agency conducted a study together with law enforcement agencies)

8. More than 80 training courses were organized in order to develop immunity to corruption among civil servants, which covered more than 15 thousand civil servants.

Uzbekistan Anti-Corruption Digest online magazine was established, published in Uzbek, Russian and English.

9. The Anti-Corruption Week is held annually on the occasion of December 9, International Anti-Corruption Day.

II. As part of the implementation of the State Program for Implementation of the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy 2022-2026 in the Year of Human Care and Quality Education, the Anti-Corruption Agency has developed draft National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2023-2027 and State Anti-Corruption Program 2023-2024.

Currently, these projects are being coordinated with ministries and departments, after which they will be adopted in the proper manner.

III. The first National Anti-Corruption Report was considered in the prescribed manner in the Legislative Chamber and Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and published in the media. http://surl.li/jwmka

IV. According to Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. DP-5729 of May 29, 2019, the implementation of the Corruption-Free Area Project in capital construction and higher education areas began as an experiment on August 1, 2019.

Since 2021, tasks have been defined for the implementation of the Corruption-Free Area Project in the field of healthcare, public procurement and the banking system, and the National Anti-Corruption Council has approved separate Road Maps for each area.

(these areas were selected based on the high risk of corruption, the growing number of corruption-related crimes and the results of a social survey)

Starting from 2023, during the period of fundamental transformations implemented within the framework of administrative reforms to reform the public administration system, the decree and resolutions of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan define the tasks for transforming the fuel and energy sector and water management, as well as the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade and the Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection Committee into the Corruption-Free Area.

V. The National Anti-Corruption Council and its regional councils effectively implement State Anti-Corruption Policies.

The National Anti-Corruption Council and its regional councils ensure mutual cooperation between government bodies and organizations engaged in and participating in anti-corruption activities.

At meetings of the National Council, the implementation of measures provided for by state anti-corruption programs will be critically discussed on a regular basis, and reports from heads of ministries and departments will also be heard.

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