President of Uzbekistan dismisses nearly 300 officials for failing to combat poverty

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has discharged 297 public servants responsible for managing economic issues at the district level, accusing them of failing to meet expectations and displaying arrogant behavior. The president also highlighted that the dismissed officials have been replaced with modern-thinking young specialists who have taken over their positions.    

He also emphasized that there are several officials who do not take their tasks related to poverty reduction in mahallahs (districts and neighborhoods in Uzbekistan) seriously, according to Gazeta.uz.

«Make no mistake: If an official responsible for addressing issues faced by citizens and businesses in their mahallahs fails to do so, he should resign. Everyone must adapt and change. As you can see, the global political and economic situation is becoming difficult, and new threats are constantly emerging,» Mirziyoyev stated.

According to Mirziyoyev, many high-ranking officials continue to be blissfully ignorant about challenges they are supposed to resolve, considering them as something temporary that would disappear independently in a year or two. However, they are already being replaced by young specialists with modern thinking, who are energized and ready to address the needs of the population.

He also added that Uzbekistan’s goal for 2025 is to help 1.5 million people to break free from poverty.

In late October, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Finance, Madi Takiyev, stated that there is no «army» of officials in the country and, in fact, it lacks qualified personnel. Therefore, he argued, there is no need to reduce staff.