President Mirziyoyev declares war on corruption in construction: Digitalization to replace bureaucracy

Earlier, the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services filed a complaint with the Ministry of Internal Affairs against an entrepreneur who had publicly alleged corruption. The entrepreneur claimed that until you make a certain contribution (bribe – ed.), you won’t be granted a construction permit.

In 2025, authorities received more than 2.6 million construction-related applications nationwide and rejected approximately one-third of them. Mirziyoyev noted that many of these refusals stem from systemic issues.

“Officials say, ‘We returned it due to deficiencies.’ But if you look closer, you see many underlying issues. Everyone knows this but pretends otherwise – in reality, this is corruption. The only way to eliminate it is through digitalization and artificial intelligence,” the president said.

Currently, residents and businesses spend months navigating multiple procedures. They must first seek design approval and then submit a separate request for architectural planning assignments. In Tashkent, authorities now review these two services in a single stage, cutting processing times by 75%. Officials plan to extend this approach nationwide starting July 1.

Furthermore, applicants must currently apply separately to each utility provider for electricity, gas, water, and sewage connections. Authorities plan to launch a unified application and payment system for all utility connections on July 1.

The president also highlighted poor coordination among the 26 agencies involved in local urban planning councils as a primary source of delays. Under new measures, regional governors and the Mayor of Tashkent will chair these councils and issue final decisions on business applications.

Mirziyoyev criticized the current “Transparent Construction” rating system for ignoring leased equipment. Including such equipment could raise the rankings of at least 500 companies by one or two levels, granting them access to a market worth UZS 17 trillion. He instructed the Ministry to create an electronic database of leased equipment to be integrated into the scoring system.

Additionally, the president called on officials to lift restrictions that limit contractors to importing only one piece of specialized equipment per year. More broadly, officials must review the entire construction process – from permits to project commissioning – within three months to submit proposals to reduce requirements, timelines, and costs by up to 50%.

In August 2025, entrepreneur Usmonjon Abdusamatov publicly criticized the system. The Ministry of Construction subsequently filed a complaint against him with the Ministry of Internal Affairs following his allegations of corruption.