Entrepreneur Who Illegally Extracted Sand and Gravel Paid 144 Million Soums in Damages
2026-03-26 09:00:00 / News
The court hearing established that the individual entrepreneur Sh.U. a resident of the Yangikurgan district, bypassed the requirements of current legislation. According to the Regulations "On the procedure for issuing permits for the right to use subsoil plots," approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 133 dated March 25, 2022, the extraction of non-metallic minerals must be carried out strictly on the basis of a special permit. However, the entrepreneur did not possess such a permit.
According to the details of the process, Sh.U. used the land plot allocated to his brother G.U. by the Yangikurgan District Hokim's decision No. 266 dated February 28, 2017, for the construction of a workshop for "Crushing stone and producing sand and gravel from it". Illegal excavations were carried out from January to May 2025 on 0.45 hectares of the 1.5 hectares of land in the territory of the "Tuychi Nematov Bekobod" agro-firm.
As a result of control measures and the court investigation, the exact volume of illegally extracted sand and gravel products was determined. The entrepreneur extracted 5,130 cubic meters of sand and gravel products without the relevant permit. It was proven that these actions resulted in economic damage to the interests of the state and society totaling 144,000,000 (one hundred forty-four million) soums.
The court found the defendant Sh.U. guilty under Article 196¹, Part 2, Clause "a" of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Violation of the procedure for the protection and use of subsoil). By the court sentence, he was sentenced to restriction of liberty for a term of 3 years. Additionally, the damage amounting to 144,000,000 soums was recovered in favor of the Eastern Regional Department of the Inspectorate for Control of Mining, Geology and Industrial Safety.
These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the control system in the field of subsoil use. Stopping illegal excavations serves not only to compensate for economic damage but also to preserve natural resources. Ensuring legality guarantees the rational use of underground wealth and has significant preventive value in avoiding such violations.