Only partially transparent: What Uzbek officials must reveal in income declarations

Uzbekistan is working on revising its draft law on the declaration of income and assets by public officials. This initiative was mandated by a presidential decree issued on April 21, which sets out the adoption of regulatory documents identified at the expanded meeting of the National Anti-Corruption Council held on March 5.

The law will define the subjects and scope of declarations, the list of information to be disclosed, the format and procedure for submission, as well as the verification mechanism.

The amendments are expected to be developed by the end of May, with responsibility for the process assigned to the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Ministry of Justice, and the Prosecutor General’s Office.

What will be disclosed, and what will not

As reported by Gazeta.uz, the National Anti-Corruption Council has instructed that the following six categories of information must be disclosed in income declarations:

• Full name of the declarant
• Information on the spouse and underage children
• Place of work and job title
• Total annual income
• Real estate holdings
• Vehicles

Meanwhile, 20 categories of information will remain undisclosed, including residence address, income from agriculture and private practice, ownership of securities, cash and bank deposits, inheritance received, gifts valued up to 200 times the basic calculation unit (75 million UZS), honoraria, monetary prizes and lottery winnings up to 100 BCV (37.5 million UZS), and other categories.

Declarations must be submitted annually by April 1 through the electronic information system “Declaration.”

Data on declared assets will be automatically integrated through relevant organizational databases.

The Anti-Corruption Agency will serve as the authorized body overseeing the declaration system. It will carry out verifications and publish the open portions of the declarations on its official website.

Background on the declaration system

Efforts to implement an income and asset declaration system for public officials and their spouses in Uzbekistan have been underway since 2017. The original proposal required officials to declare assets, income and expenses for themselves, their spouses, parents, and children. In the latest version, the declaration is limited to income and applies only to spouses and underage children.

According to a presidential decree, the income declaration system was to be implemented starting January 1, 2022, but this did not happen. The draft law was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers on November 13, 2021, but the government did not pass it to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, as previously noted by the Anti-Corruption Agency.

The current draft proposes a two-phase implementation of income and asset declarations for public officials:

Phase 1: The President, members of the Legislative Chamber and Senate, government members, heads of government and economic management bodies, and local executive officials and their deputies.

Phase 2: Other public servants (excluding support, technical, and maintenance personnel).

In 2024, Anti-Corruption Agency head Akmal Burkhanov informed that “the draft law on income declarations is nearly complete — it has passed ministerial and agency approvals, as well as review by the Ministry of Justice.”

Despite repeated instructions from the president to expedite the adoption of the law, deadlines have been repeatedly postponed. Most recently, in early March, the president directed relevant agencies to publish the draft law for public consultation and submit it for review by April 1.