Since then, there has been a range of media publications about the Fund’s misappropriation; for example,
articles expose how in the Bukhara,2 Navoi,3 Namangan4 and Qashkadarya5 regions of Uzbekistan, over UZS 2
billion was misused. In September 2020, the Uzbek Senate confirmed 2,438 cases of the Fund’s misuse and UZS
38.9 billion lost in total.6
Information access
In May,7 August 8 and September9 2020, the Ministry of Finance published in its Telegram channel a series of
infographics reflecting the expenses of the Fund, but without much specification about who exactly received
money and how it was spent.
In July 2021, international CSOs, bloggers and activists in Uzbekistan raised the issue of the lack of transparency
in the Fund’s management and the increased risks of misuse and embezzlement multiple times. At the end of
August, the Ministry partially disclosed10 the financial details of the contracts by providing references to the
online state procurement platform11. However, there were multiple reports about limited access to data for
users located in Uzbekistan (i.e. blocked access to the webpage, limited access to downloading data).
Civil society activists from Uzbekistan managed to download the files disclosed by the Ministry of Finance and
conducted an analysis of the provided information about the use of state funds for COVID-19 related needs.
Because of retaliation risks, the identity of the activists who conducted this analysis remains confidential.
Methodology
The original data was downloaded from the dedicated webpage of the Ministry of Finance in December 2020
and February 2021.
Eighteen documents in Excel format contain information about state procurement funded from the Anti-Crisis
Fund of Uzbekistan for the period from 1 April 2020 to 24 August 2020. The total amount of procurement
recorded is around UZS 4 trillion out of the total UZS 10 trillion in the Fund.
Each file contains the following information: activity, region, customer name, product or service, supplier name,
contract number, contract date, lot number, purchase type, contract amount, link to the online platform for
state procurement in Uzbekistan, etc. Two files have aggregated data for all the procurements funded from the
'Выявлено хищение средств из Антикризисного фонда в Бухаре', Gazeta.Uz, 22 May 2020.
'Выявлено хищение средств из Антикризисного фонда в Навои', Gazeta.Uz, 31 May 2020.
4 'Должностные лица СЭС украли у государства более $24 тыс', UzNews, 7 July 2020.
5 'Экс-глава ЦСЭБ Кашкадарьи и другие сотрудники обвиняются в хищении $90 тысяч', Gazeta.Uz, 19 July 2020.
6 'Расходование средств Антикризисного фонда можно проверить только постфактум» — глава Минфина', Gazeta.Uz, 23 September 2020.
7 Информация о расходах Антикризисного фонда при Министерстве финансов Республики Узбекистан, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, 27 May 2020.
8 Информация о расходах Антикризисного фонда при Министерстве финансов Республики Узбекистан, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, 11 August 2020.
9 Информация о расходах Антикризисного фонда при Министерстве финансов Республики Узбекистан, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, 19 September 2020.
10 Ўзбекистон Республикаси Молия вазирлиги ҳузуридаги Инқирозга қарши курашиш жамғармаси манбалари тўғрисида , Ministry of Finance of
the Republic of Uzbekistan, 19 January 2021.
11 Online platform for state procurement in Uzbekistan: UZEX, last accessed 17 November 2021.
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