At the 24th plenary session of the Senate, the director of the Anti-Corruption Agency reported to senators on the work done to ensure the transparency of government agencies and organizations.
According to him, 80 out of 135 government agencies and organizations (60%) did not post information on public procurement for the IV quarter of 2021 in the designated resources. Reports on the cost of business trips and reception of visitors from foreign countries by 88 government bodies and organizations were not disclosed in a timely manner.
Information on public procurement, cost estimates and their implementation, the cost of business trips and reception of visitors from foreign countries, information on those responsible for licensing and permits, cars, service houses and other necessary information has not fully been disclosed to the public. The official website does not work in 43 of the 204 district and city khokimiyats in the country.
The report also touched upon the shortcomings in the work of government agencies:
- Information on the winners of the open tender for the right to lease agricultural land by the Ministry of Agriculture has not been published on the ministerial website;
- Information on the holders of permits to conduct business activities in the territory of the objects of tangible cultural heritage, taken under state protection by the Agency for Cultural Heritage, has not been published in full;
- The fact that the State Committee for Forestry does not regularly update information on hunting farms, including hunting in prohibited areas, imposition of a ban on hunting in certain hunting areas, has caused great public outcry;
- When considering the appeals of individuals and legal entities, their views on the transparency of the activities of government agencies and organizations have not been studied. No discussion has taken place through the “My opinion” web portal to legally address pressing issues of concern to the population.
As a result of insufficient coordination of efforts to ensure the transparency of government agencies and organizations, they have not posted the relevant information on the open data portal (data.egov.uz) and on their official websites.
Although the Anti-Corruption Agency is tasked to publish on its official website the main achievements of its activities and shortcomings in the work of government agencies and organizations, this information has not been published, similar criticisms were made in Akmal Burkhanov’s statement.
In fact, the “Annual National Reports” section of the agency’s open data section does not contain reports, monthly reports are not published, and other open data sections are empty. The site also does not contain information on the status of implementation of the state program to combat corruption in 2021.
