Officials of defunct Tashkent Culture Department suspected of embezzlement

The former Tashkent-based Main Directorate of Culture has been found to have broken state procurement legislation, according to the Uzbek Prosecutor General's Office.

In 2022, the department engaged in direct contracts with various firms (without holding tenders, as required by law) to hold festivals worth 20 billion Uzbek soum ($1.75 billion), Gazeta.uz reports.

These festivals were held in May and September, but to conceal violations of the law, department officials posted advertisements and documents for five festivals on an online bidding portal on October 24 and November 3, concluding the relevant contracts, the statement said.

In addition, the Prosecutor General's Office believes that the festivals embezzled 8 billion soums ($0.7 million) of budgetary funds through the processing of unperformed work and unprovided services.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against officials of the department and others as a result of the inspection. Investigations are now underway.