The Uzbek government has officially confirmed that in 2025, eight assistants to local district governors (hokim yordamchisi) were involved in corruption crimes. This was announced by Marat Juraev, First Deputy Minister of Poverty Reduction and Employment, during a press conference at the Content Preparation Center on March 12. According to him, nearly 9,000 neighborhoods across the country have active assistants to district governors, with their direct employers being the district governor's offices, although methodological support for their activities is provided by the Ministry of Employment.
Marat Juraev emphasized the critical role of these local officials, stating, "The representative who implements every one of our initiatives and reforms locally is undoubtedly the assistant to the district governor." They are responsible for tasks such as ensuring population employment, bringing informal jobs out of the shadows, implementing family entrepreneurship programs, vocational guidance for citizens, business development, working with low-income families, and increasing their incomes. Therefore, citizens can directly appeal to the assistant to the district governor on these matters.
The deputy minister addressed concerns about corruption cases involving these officials, noting that while social media often portrays such incidents as causing "panic," the actual number is limited. "Last year, it was found that assistants to district governors were involved in corruption in eight cases. Because this information spread across all social networks and platforms, it caused panic. In the rating maintained by the Anti-Corruption Agency, assistants to district governors do not even make it into the top 10. But even one such case is too many, we understand this very well," said Juraev.
Marat Juraev further explained that starting from February 2026, candidates for the position of assistant to the district governor are undergoing test assessments to evaluate their resilience to corruption. "Depending on the test results, they are then confirmed for the position. If we started this experiment in February, 170 candidates have taken the test so far. If they fail the test, they are sent for retraining. This is being implemented jointly with the Leadership Assessment Center under the General Prosecutor's Office. Candidates are not appointed to this position until they pass the test," he clarified.
Previous reports from Anti-Corruption Agency head Akmal Burhanov indicated that in 2025, a total of 5,222 corruption crimes were recorded in Uzbekistan. According to his statements, 12 district governors were held accountable last year, with the highest number of corruption crimes occurring in the ministries of health, preschool and school education, as well as in local governor's offices.
Source: www.gazeta.uz