The Committee for the Development of Competition and Protection of Consumer Rights has reported the results of inspections conducted in the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The investigations revealed signs of anti-competitive agreements and coordinated actions in public procurement.

According to the agency, 345 tender procedures worth a total of approximately 41 billion soums were analysed in January-June 2026. As a result, 842 violations of competition legislation requirements were recorded across 317 public procurements worth 32.1 billion soums. These figures point to serious systemic problems in the public procurement system.

Particular attention was paid to tenders conducted in 2025 through the etender.uzex.uz electronic platform. Specifically, 200 tenders for road construction materials and laboratory testing of the quality of completed works, with an initial value exceeding 1.6 billion soums, were studied in depth. Violations were especially widespread in this segment.

A special commission ruled that the customer violated the requirements of Article 29 of the Law “On Competition” — restricting competition or creating conditions leading to its restriction in tenders. Binding instructions were issued to eliminate the identified violations. Administrative protocols were drawn up against the officials responsible and sent to court in accordance with the established procedure.

The inspections are part of systematic efforts to increase transparency and improve the competitive environment in public procurement. However, the 842 identified violations and the unlawful distribution of more than 32 billion soums indicate that much work remains to be done in this area.

Source: www.gazeta.uz