Seven or eight years ago, people were left stranded when their homes were demolished under compensation schemes and they never received the promised money. Today, a new wave of despair is spreading across social media: citizens who paid in full for new apartments yet have received neither their homes nor their money back.
One such case has emerged in Mirzo Ulugbek district. Buyers who invested in System Metall Stroy LLC’s “Prestige” project have reached the end of their patience – construction remains unfinished and the builders are in detention.
Guzal Ernazarova, one of the buyers, explained that at the very moment a criminal case was opened against the developers and the building was already under restriction, the company took out a large loan using the property as collateral:
“In 2021 we paid the last of our money for an apartment in the multi-storey building on Quva-9 Street in Mirzo Ulugbek district. Almost five years have passed since then and we still have no home.
“Our case is not moving forward in court, nor at the Prosecutor General’s Office, nor at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We keep going from office to office asking about progress. The indictment was announced on 18 August 2025, the investigation was declared complete, and we went to the ministry to sign the documents. But since then the case has still not reached court. On 15 August 2024 the builders took a 2.5 billion UZS loan from the Uchtepa branch of Infinbank. That money was never used to finish our building. They obtained the loan by pledging a building that was already under restriction, and according to the authorities there is no criminal element in either the loan issuance or the actions of the officials who approved it. They mortgaged a building worth 91 billion UZS for just 2.5 billion – without anyone’s consent.”
According to the affected buyers, they were never informed during the investigation that the building had been encumbered because of this loan.
In the current situation, a rehabilitation (sanation) procedure has been applied. Sanation is a legal process aimed at restoring the company’s operations and completing the project. A court-appointed temporary manager oversees construction in the interests of the clients, giving them a chance to finish the building at their own expense. The buyers are ready and willing to do so, but the lien placed on the property is blocking progress.
