Four convicted over poisoning of 105 children in Fergana, none sentenced to prison

The company was also found to have illegally consumed electricity worth UZS 35 million, causing UZS 105.8 million in damages to the Kuvasay electricity supply enterprise.

In a separate scheme, the officials inflated meal plan allowances by up to 30% in documents covering 22 kindergartens under the Kuvasay City Preschool and School Education Department in July 2025. They submitted falsified reports and misappropriated UZS 171 million in budget funds.

In August 2025, prepared food products worth UZS 53.4 million delivered to 35 kindergartens in Margilan, Kuvasay and Fergana, as well as Fergana and Kuva districts, were deemed unfit for consumption and returned to the company. The officials nevertheless submitted falsified reports claiming that the food had been delivered to children and sought payment.

According to the court documents, Garden Catering Trade had contracts to supply prepared meals to 238 state kindergartens across Fergana, Margilan and Kuvasay, as well as Fergana and Kuva districts.

Sentences handed down

The defendants denied the charges in court. They asked for leniency, arguing that the shortcomings identified during the investigation had been addressed and the damage compensated in full.

The court imposed the following sentences:

- Company head Sh.T. – three years and six months of restriction of liberty.

- Technologist R.A. – three years of restriction of liberty.

- Director I.B. – three years of corrective labor.

- Accountant A.S. – three years of corrective labor.

Sh.T. and R.A., who had been held in pretrial detention, were released in the courtroom following the verdict.

How the company obtained kindergarten catering contracts

Garden Catering Trade began supplying meals to state kindergartens in Kuvasay under a decision issued by Fergana region Governor Khayrullo Bozorov on July 25, 2024. The company had been established only a month earlier, yet its proposal to prepare and deliver meals was approved.

On July 30, 2024, the regional administration announced that the catering system was being introduced on a trial basis. From August 1, Garden Catering Trade received the right to supply food to kindergartens for five months without a tender or competitive selection process.

In July 2024, the Anti-Corruption Agency identified violations in the organization of meals at state preschool institutions in Fergana region. It found that the governor’s decision to select Garden Catering Trade directly to supply kindergartens in Kuvasay and Fergana had contravened the Public Procurement Law and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 626 of July 25, 2019.

The agency submitted a formal notice to the regional administration, calling for the violations to be remedied, the service provider to be selected through competitive procurement, responsible officials to be held accountable and similar violations to be prevented in the future.

However, the agency said the regional administration had taken no practical steps to address the violations identified in its submission.

In a separate case involving mass food poisoning at kindergartens in Tashkent region, 11 people were previously found guilty. Three defendants were sentenced to three and a half years in prison, while another three received three-year prison terms.