At a meeting on November 21, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed his dissatisfaction with the inefficient use of land by the mayors, or local governors. He highlighted that over the past five years, 42,500 hectares of agricultural land have been reclassified as settlement and industrial land. He noted that some mayors have failed to utilize these lands effectively.
Specifically, 17,500 hectares of reclassified land in 100 districts have not been transferred to entrepreneurs or put up for auction. The President warned that if these lands are not auctioned by the end of the year, they will revert to their original agricultural classification.
19,300 hectares of land are allocated to entrepreneurs, and 5,400 hectares remain unused. There are also vacant plots in industrial zones, and industrial land with ready-made infrastructure is often misused, resulting in significant revenue losses for the budget.
According to land use statistics, agricultural land makes up 62.6% of the total land area in Uzbekistan. The President emphasized that by the end of this year, 15,000 hectares of new land should have been developed to replace the reclassified land, but 8,000 hectares remain undeveloped.
President Mirziyoyev warned that mayors who fail to fulfil their promise to develop new lands by the end of the year will face fines, and their proposals to change land categories will not be considered. He has instructed the Cadastre Agency to conduct a full inventory of all industrial lands by March 1, 2024, and regional mayors to return 7,000 hectares of land allocated before 2021 to the reserve.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Uzbekistan has been tasked with ensuring the legality and inevitability of punishment in this matter. At the end of 2021, the President attributed the root of cadastral problems to “bribery and corruption.”
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