On October 15, during a meeting focused on the development of the Tashkent region, the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, announced the dismissal of two deputy khokims of the region. This decision was made due to significant issues in agriculture and the inadequate performance of local authorities.
The first deputy khokim of Tashkent region responsible for agriculture, Botir Alimbekov, was relieved of his duties for the ineffective utilization of agricultural resources.
The President pointed out that even though the area of agricultural land in Tashkent region is one and a half times greater than that in Andijan, the production volume remains at the same level. The average income per hectare in the region is twice as low as in Andijan and significantly trails behind Namangan, Fergana, and Bukhara.
Moreover, the region's export suffers a loss of up to 10 million dollars annually due to the inefficiency of 2200 hectares of orchards and vineyards, and Tashkent region ranks last in the implementation of water-saving technologies.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev also expressed dissatisfaction with the efforts to reduce poverty. He emphasized that some families remain impoverished despite the conditions created for them. Tashkent region has a low employment rate in small businesses—only 25% of the region's industry consists of small enterprises, while the share of small business in household income is merely 1.5%. There are 12,000 job vacancies in the region, of which 2,000 are related to unskilled labor. Instead of engaging the unemployed in these jobs, they are paid unemployment benefits amounting to 4 billion sums annually.
In light of the aforementioned issues, the President dismissed the first deputy khokim of Tashkent region, Erkin Mukhtidinov, due to shortcomings in poverty reduction efforts.