Can Uzbekistan overcome corruption?

How can a country beset by corruption from top to bottom free itself from this scourge? Uzbeks, sometimes jokingly and sometimes seriously, say that bribery and extortion are in their blood.

At the center of the rumor mill are the powerful and well-connected—people who have grown rich by corruptly leveraging their close ties to power. According to word of mouth, every major business or property, including restaurants, banks, and other places of luxury and money belong to these people: President Mirziyoyev’s sons-in-law, the Russian Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov, or Tashkent’s filthy rich mayor Jahongir Artikhodjayev. I heard about these three so often, especially during my most recent trip to Uzbekistan, that I could practically finish the sentences spoken by my companions whenever they felt compelled to tell me what they know.

It is hard to establish what is and isn’t true. But the depth of the public belief in this corruption speaks volumes about the state of Uzbekistan today. Corruption is endemic. It occupies every nook and cranny of the prevailing system. And it has spread its tentacles across every sector of Uzbek society and the Uzbek economy.

Of course, the government says that it is spearheading a fight against corruption. And while the state works hard to persuade the public that the game is afoot, very few buy that official narrative.

Still, the state is trying to send a signal, which at least suggests that it is sensitive to public concern, and potentially anger. To demonstrate seriousness of purpose, President Mirziyoyev launched an anti-corruption agency last year. He appointed a young, foreign-educated lawmaker, an emerging public figure named Akmal Burhanov as the agency’s director. 

It’s not a job for the faint-hearted, not least because it means a great deal of scrutiny for the occupants, both from below and from above. Yet Burhanov willingly gave up his position in the Uzbek parliament as well as well other management positions because, he says, he now strongly believes that conflicts of interest among officials are a fundamental barrier in the fight against corruption. Frankly, that’s a stark admission because when I questioned Burhanov in late 2019 alongside other parliamentarians during a live show about conflicts of interest, he freely admitted that he did not know much about what that even was. 

“I did not quite understand the concept,” he tells me now, nearly two years later. “I hadn’t thought about the impact of conflicts of interest … until that day when you asked us about it.” 

Notably, Uzbekistan has been a member of the UN Convention Against Corruption for over a decade, yet it lacked an entity to specifically tackle this problem, which affects everyone without any limits. 

“But the key trigger [for change] here is the will of the leadership,” says Burhanov, who, like everyone else in an official position in Uzbekistan, credits President Mirziyoyev with spearheading a shift in attitude.

“We are under enormous pressure from everyone,” he tells me. From below, “the public wants us to fight corruption fast and effectively. They are expecting a miracle from us. But just one agency can’t do it. We need everyone to do her or his best, to contribute in the process.” Meanwhile, for colleagues in the system, presumably up to the very top, “we need to reform our mentality so that Uzbeks learn what corruption is from an early age” and then grow up, enter the workforce, and build a system that is free of it. 

Still, corruption is a fact of life in the country. Everyone in Uzbekistan, and Uzbeks who live abroad for work and other purposes, at some point face, deal with, or participate in corrupt practices.

“Our agency is a coordinating body, integrating all anti-corruption efforts … We don’t have any punitive powers. We are not a part of law enforcement, but we closely work with them. We don’t do legal investigations, but we do investigate corruption complaints. Then, based on our findings, we pass those cases to relevant enforcement bodies to address them.”

Burhanov says his agency is launching anti-corruption programs and campaigns, which require active media engagement as well as support of the international community.

“From our partners abroad, we mainly want expertise. We need to learn from them, and the launch new and effective methods against corruption.”

The agency has a public council consisting of civil society leaders, activists, journalists and bloggers. Now, it is also forming a journalist’s club, which will promote and assist investigative reporting. 

“At least 50 journalists are willing to work with us, since they cover corruption. We will exchange information with them and do whatever we need to do to make sure their reporting is well-based and effective. Strong media are the best anti-corruption instrument.”

But from my observations and experience, there are limits to that approach. Media are part of the corrupt system in Uzbekistan as well. Many in the media promote transparency for others but then are quite close-mouthed about it when it comes to questions about their own ownership, finances, and other critical matters. The government often gives awards to journalists for promoting state-backed reforms and the state’s agenda. Burhanov himself knows these are real problems but does not see quick solutions to them.  

“Who will reward journalists in this country if not the government. We don’t have credible professional trade organizations. Ideally, those kinds of organizations should be selecting who is doing a ‘good’ journalism. But right now, it’s the government that is benefiting from the work of these journalists,” which in turn promotes cozy connections and informal corruption.  

Many Uzbek reporters get paid by their sources to do stories. And then these media outlets rarely let the public know which of their content is paid for, or not. In short, they lack professional standards and ethical norms.

Does Burhanov see any systemic reforms in the offing that could aid his agency’s mission? 

“This agency is part of the systemic reforms that are ongoing in Uzbekistan. Our system has always been based on what this or that individual wants. But now, we are launching transparency and openness rules and requirements.” 

The agency is currently working on three reform bills. First, the agency needs laws to gover its own operations. A second bill is focused on the financial disclosures of public servants. And that will also include the disclosure of conflicts of interest, a concept which has come a long way considering how alien it was to Burhanov himself in 2019:

“It’s time for us to draw a line and make sure that the system does not allow conflicts of interest.”

The third reform bill aims to launch anti-corruption mechanisms to filter bills, bylaws, and appropriations and transaction documents. 

“We are already reducing document requirements by the hundreds because they open way for corruption. But there is so much more that is needed.”

Burhanov admits that organized corruption deeply hurts the society and system but does not agree with me that the problem itself has widened.

“We have always had these problems. But the government now addresses and tackles thousands of cases across the country. We are more transparent and open than ever,” he claims.

Burhanov says ministers now call him with corruption issues and ask for assistance in fighting them. To illustrate, he talks about the agency’s work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Public Education. But at the same time, many ministries and other government outlets try to keep his agency at arm’s length. 

I ask him about the redlines and other obstructions that his agency has encountered so far. How bold can this office be, even with a formal system of new laws governing its work and new norms about the need to fight this ill?

“I don’t see any redlines but I’ve been told many times by many in our system that ‘you won’t be able to end this, don’t interfere, this is not a part of your job.’”

Burhanov says many entities put bureaucratic barriers in his agency’s path and constantly come up with excuses not to respond to its requests. That is one of the reasons he is asking the parliament to support him with new laws.

Burhanov knows he has one of the hardest jobs in the country. He believes he has President Mirziyoyev trust and respect. “We talk a lot and obviously discuss our tasks and projects.”

Burhanov says he does not take orders from anyone, except Mirziyoyev. “We are directly under the president.”

Many in the country see that, in itself, as part of the problem. How can the agency fight corruption if it’s an integral part of the corrupt system?

Burhanov argues that the mission is genuine, and, he says, Uzbekistan does want to take concrete and tangible steps to become a state that is trusted by its people as well as the international community. He talks about how the future of the country depends on its anti-corruption progress. 

If that’s true, I ask, then is the agency willing to publicly name and shame individuals? “Yes, we are!” responds Burhanov. 

He fully agrees that Uzbekistan should know who its corrupt citizens are, no matter how exalted their positions or how connected to power are they sectors they represent.

“We are about to launch an online board, which will showcase the cases and the outcomes of our investigations. It will show the area map and specific places that complaints come from. It will inform the public about the extent of the problem, show proof, and offer background.”  

“We will also have ratings based on sector, office, and type of corruption. We will base this on the data that we collect, of course.”

This approach, which discloses information to the public, will raise privacy issues, not least for those who are accused. But Burhanov says, the agency will have to deal with that within a broader framework of legal reform: after all, Uzbekistan needs new laws governing privacy as well.