“Corruption in the oil and gas sector is linked with our mentality” – Uzbekneftegaz Chairman 

Chairman of the board of JSC Uzbekneftegaz Bakhodir Sidikov says that causes of corruption in the oil and gas sector are linked with people’s mentality.

According to him, before, “large-scale corruption existed in the system of public procurement in the oil and gas sector”.

However, he assured that the system of public procurement in Uzbekftegaz became transparent due to the centralization of the process through Neftegazinvest, “which provides wide coverage of all ongoing competition and tenders”. 

“Unluckily, there are certain frauds in the procurement, but they all concern contracts of less than $50,000, more than $50,000 are centralized,” the head of the company noted adding that control over contracts of up to $50,000 is carried out by his first deputy.

“If you observe purchases in the oil and gas sector, you can see that there are cases when we re-declare and do not allow those companies that show even the slightest elements of corruption to participate in a significant number of competitions and tenders,” Sidikov concluded.