Corruption in Uzbekistan is a serious problem. There are laws in place to prevent corruption, but enforcement in terms of laws regarding corruption is very weak. Low prosecution rates of corrupt officials is another contributing factor to the rampant corruption in Uzbekistan. It is not a criminal offense for a non-public official to influence the discretion of a public official. The judicial system faces severe functional deficits due to limited resources and corruption.[1]
In Uzbekistan, corruption is present at virtually every level of society, business, and government. It is also one of the world's most corrupt countries,[2] and among the contributory factors is its possessing the second largest economy in Central Asia, its large reserves of natural gas, and its geographical position between the rival powers of the so-called Cold War II.[3]
Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, published in early 2024, scored 180 countries on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). Uzbekistan received a score of 33. When ranked by score, Uzbekistan ranked 121st among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.[4] For comparison with worldwide scores, the average score was 43, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180).[5] For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Eastern European and Central Asian countries[Note 1] was 53, the average score was 35 and the lowest score was 18.[6] Transparency International wrote that although Uzbekistan's authoritarian government resists progress in combatting corruption, and although Uzbekistan's score remains below the global and regional averages, steady and significant progress has nonetheless been made: Uzbekistan's score on the Corruption Perceptions Index has improved every year since 2013.[5] Transparency International wrote, "Key steps include creating an anti-corruption agency, strengthening legislation and liberalising the economy. Importantly, policies and procedures have been established to enforce these laws and criminal charges have been filed against numerous corrupt officials. The government also introduced stronger internal control and audit tools in various ministries and local government offices, such as anti-bribery management systems."[6]
"Graft and bribery among low and mid-level officials are part of everyday life and are sometimes even transparent," stated Freedom House in 2015. Freedom House added that the ubiquity of corruption helped to "limit equality of opportunity."[7]
A 2015 report by Amnesty International quotes a businessman who was arrested and tortured in 2011, as saying that corruption in Uzbekistan is a "cancer that had spread everywhere."[8]
- ^ "Uzbekistan Corruption Profile". Business Anti-Corruption Portal. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
- ^ "Business Corruption in Uzbekistan". Business Anti-Corruption Portal. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ^ Follath, Erich (3 April 2015). "Tashkent's Shakespearean Drama: Scandal Shakes Uzbekistan's Ruling Family". Der Spiegel.
- ^ "The ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated". Transparency.org. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ a b "Corruption Perceptions Index 2023: Uzbekistan". Transparency.org. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ a b "CPI 2023 for Eastern Europe & Central Asia: Autocracy & weak justice systems enabling widespread corruption". Transparency.org. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "Uzbekistan". Freedom House. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ "Uzbekistan: Torture, corruption and lies". Amnesty International. 13 April 2015.
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