Uzbek government seeks to 'root out' graft in energy sector

By BBC Monitoring

Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has instructed the Anti-Corruption Agency to draft a bill jointly with the Energy Ministry to "root out corruption" in the energy sector, the privately-owned news website Gazeta.uz reported on 30 May.

The announcement was made in the president's decree of 24 May, the report said.

"The State Security Service, the Interior Ministry and the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the Prosecutor-General's Office should strengthen investigative measures to prevent illegal connections to electricity, gas transmission and distribution networks and theft of fuel and energy resources," the report said, quoting the decree.

It added that the Department for Combating Economic Crimes was additionally tasked, together with the energy watchdog "Uzenergoinspektsiya", to regularly examine the spending of state funds and foreign loans raised under the government's guarantee for the introduction of renewable energy installations, energy efficiency and energy saving technologies.

According to the website, Uzbekistan plans to launch a system for taking photos and videos about offences related to the use of electricity, heat and gas on 1 September.

The president's decree also increases the staff in the Prosecutor-General's Office and expands its remit in controlling the use of fuel and energy resources by monitoring the enforcement of laws in the sector, the report concluded.

Source: Gazeta.uz website, Tashkent, in Russian 1755 GMT 30 May 23