ANNOTATION

The Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on "Measures to Ensure the Independence of Anti-Corruption Internal Control Units of State Bodies and Organizations and Enhance Their Effectiveness" has been adopted.

According to the Decree, the priority tasks of the anti-corruption internal control units in state bodies and organizations, as well as in economic societies with a state share of 50% or more in their charter (share) capital, are defined as follows:

• Early detection and prevention of corruption cases, elimination of the causes and conditions that enable them;

• Elimination of corruption factors in the provision of public services, prevention of petty corruption, including the development of proposals on digitization and reducing bureaucracy;

• Conducting anti-corruption expertise on regulatory and legal documents, and making proposals for the cancellation of identified corruption norms.

The anti-corruption internal control units report directly to the first head of the organization and are accountable to them.

The minimum criteria for establishing anti-corruption internal control units have been approved.

According to the Decree, a system will be introduced by January 1, 2027, as a legal experiment, which will include the following:

• Employees of the Anti-Corruption Agency (the Agency) will be appointed as heads of anti-corruption internal control units in the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Construction and Communal Services, the Ministry of Water Resources, "Uzbekneftegaz" JSC, and "Uzsuvta’minot" JSC;

• The heads of the anti-corruption internal control units in the organizations participating in the experiment will report directly to the Agency;

• The organization, coordination, and monitoring of the activities of the anti-corruption internal control units in the organizations participating in the experiment will be jointly carried out by the Agency and the respective organizations.

The Agency has been designated as the special authorized body for coordinating and methodologically supporting the activities of anti-corruption internal control units in state bodies and organizations, conducting internships and certification of their employees, and providing professional development.

By July 1, 2025, an electronic module will be launched on "E-anticor.uz" that will allow the electronic registration of the heads and employees of internal control units, electronic submission of reports, and conducting and publishing anonymous surveys.