The Committee for Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan announced the results of a large-scale audit of public procurement carried out in 2025. According to the analysis, more than 23,000 procurement processes with a total value of 18.8 trillion soums were thoroughly examined. Unfortunately, serious violations contrary to the principles of transparency and competition were identified in these processes. Specifically, it was revealed that 28,304 anti-competitive actions were committed by customers and participants in 16,135 trading processes.
The audits showed that most violations were related to the breach of trading procedures, with legal requirements bypassed in 16,017 cases. Also, in 8,647 cases, artificial preferential conditions were created for certain participants. This situation indicates high corruption risks in the use of public funds and that the healthy competitive environment is being seriously harmed. In addition, illegal practices such as collusion between participants in 1,145 cases and unjustified exclusion of competitors from trades in 801 cases were observed.
Another alarming situation identified by the Committee is conflict of interest and affiliation. In 685 cases, mutual connections between participants were exposed, and in 61 cases, between the customer and the participant. Such situations undermine the impartiality of public procurement. Regarding the identified violations, work was carried out in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, and relevant information on 11,427 procurements was submitted to law enforcement authorities. Administrative cases were initiated for 4,708 cases.
As a result of the measures taken, 714 administrative protocols were drawn up against officials of public procurement entities and sent to judicial bodies. Also, financial penalties were applied to corporate customers who committed violations, and strict instructions were given not to repeat such situations in the future. The Competition Committee continues its work to ensure transparency in public procurement and control the targeted spending of budget funds. Such control measures are important for improving the competitive environment and reducing corruption factors in public procurement in the future.
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