Otabek Nuritdinov, born in 1984, leads business management at Moneff, an enterprise started by Uzbekistanis in London, UK. He actively engages in uniting Uzbekistan's diaspora in Great Britain, organizing diverse events and fundraisers for their homeland.  In this interview, he shares his journey from Uzbekistan to the UK, from his childhood to career paths, sports and health, to his family, his mother, and his dreams.

Growing Up in the Science District

I spent my childhood in Tashkent, in the Ulugbek settlement, built for scholars of the Institute of Nuclear Physics. I was born to a family of physicists who came to the capital city from Samarkand to work at that Institute. My father, Izzatilloh Nuritdinov, is still a professor there. My mother, Hafiza Nasrullah, after working for a short time at the Institute, became active in social problems, women’s issues, history, journalism, and philosophy and had a major role to play in the creation of the Women’s Committee in the wake of Uzbekistan’s independence.

Following our parents’ suit, we came to get used to studying, researching, and working on ourselves as natural and innate qualities that every person should have. Moreover, my childhood coincided with the period Uzbekistan attained independence and was struggling to stand on its feet. In times when the government was barely able to fund science, watching scientists forced to get out of their comfort zone by trying themselves in various alien fields to make a living – taught me many lessons that I would need later in life.

My parents, the environment they created for us, how they brought us up, and the help and guidance from my brother and sister have been critical in what I have achieved today.

Adamant Youth. With Scholarships, Not Tuition Fees. Internet, Not Mainstream...

Thanks to my father, who plays the tor and rubab and sings when he is free from science, and my mother, who writes articles on current issues for Uzbekistan’s leading newspapers and magazines, I aspired to artistic creativity from childhood. I used to feel happiest if people enjoyed watching my drawings. Generating some emotion in people through creativity was like having a superpower. That was why I chose journalism after graduating: to influence people’s lives and feelings on a larger scale. Due to my appeal to foreign languages, I aimed to attend the international journalism school of the University of World Languages.

When I took the exam for the first time in 2000, I was admitted on a tuition­fee basis. That is, I did not earn the government scholarship granted to those scoring highest on the exam. But I refused to take on the liability of paying fees for four years. I trained harder for another year and proved eligible for a scholarship on the second attempt. During my studentship years, I met a lot of good people, and I learned a lot. Education at the university, internship at the Marifat (Enlightenment) newspaper, and then a full­time job all allowed me to get in touch with journalism as it is in real life as much as the challenges it faced. I became interested in the emerging alternative media, especially the Internet, given the lack of freedom of speech in the print and television media, as well as the elements of internal censorship inculcated at the university.

Ultimately, I learned how to create a website and generate designs using Photoshop. I still feel the excitement when I recall the moments my classmate and friend, Davronbek Tojialiyev, and I uploaded the first version of what he created, the Ziyo.uz portal, to the Internet via my home computer.

Türkiye, Downturn, Entrepreneurship...

In Tashkent, I studied at a Turkish lyceum. I learned the Turkish language and culture with great enthusiasm. After not being lucky enough to go to the United States or Germany to study through various fellowship programs while graduating from the university, I went to Türkiye recommended by my brother, who lived in England at that time. And I lived there for as long as 6 years. Amid the global financial crisis 2008, the company I worked for struggled through troubles...

My mother encouraged me to be active and appreciate the value of working hard. Thus, the school summer vacations I would spend selling in the marketplace of our neck of the woods the somsa she would cook, then trading with buttermilk, melons, and watermelons in the Alai Market, carbonated drinks in the Sergeli Car Market, butchering and tutoring in Yunusabad.

Years later, I learned about the possibility of doing business in Türkiye. We bought a small advertising agency and quickly turned it into a leading digital marketing agency in our city. One of the biggest benefits of being self­employed is the freedom to manage your own time. Since I was a newlywed and had a child, that freedom meant a lot to me.

From Masters in the UK to the Big Four and the World of Startups

The dream of studying and attaining qualifications in an advanced country and my brother’s advice about the more extensive opportunities available in the UK led me to move again. I earned a full scholarship to London Metropolitan University. After a year at the graduate school, I needed a sponsoring employer to get a work visa to stay in Britain. It was difficult to get a job in my field of marketing. However, global consulting and finance companies hire hundreds of students yearly. I got invited as an auditor at Deloitte because, when recruiting employees, they would emphasize human qualities rather than a diploma in finance. I learned the rest at ‘their faculty.

'Deloitte, one of the Big Four, where I worked for six years, and Mitsui, where I worked afterward, proved an important development factor in my life. Then I got invited to a company founded by London­based Uzbekistanis in fintech, a sphere at the intersection of my two experiences – marketing and technology, and finance. Left to choose between a corporate career and the startup world, I found the latter more attractive. Knowledge, experience, mistakes, conclusions, and personal and professional growth followed this decision, which I do not regret a bit.

The Benefit of Helping Our Women in Research

Two years ago, my spouse started training in nutritional therapy. At that time, we were keen on novelties in this field and started checking out various gadgets. One was a constant glucose monitor, which I wore for two weeks. Through this experiment, itself kicked off out of curiosity, we found out that the glucose in my body was higher than normal. Then I was diagnosed with prediabetes. Doctors insisted that I correct my diet and practice sports.

Initially, though, I barely considered myself a person close to sports. But eventually realized that practicing is critical for both personal and professional life. Our body, our organism, is like our house where we live for all our lives. I wondered why we should always be attentive to the house we buy and live in, repair it, buy equipment, and take good care of it, but worry little about our body, which we live with for a lifetime.

When it came to what sport to do, I opted out of jogging, for it seemed easiest for me. And because other sports need either a special place, or special equipment, or a team. All you need to jog is a pair of sneakers and a public place. Our CTO has been running professionally for several years. He gave advice and guidance and introduced me to a coach. I thus kick­started jogging.

The Memory of the Mother and Looking to Fulfilling her Dreams

As I mentioned earlier, my mother was active in Uzbekistan in covering women’s issues, writing academic works and articles on the topic, and taking part in conferences. With my keen interest in the Internet, my mother learned about the unlimited possibilities of the World Wide Web, and in 2002 founded the first online magazine in Uzbek dedicated to women, ayol.uz. This platform, they believed, would help them reach out to the wider world.

Regrettably, my mother died in a car accident a few months after launching the site. In memory of hers, we decided to continue with her cause and run the site with our own efforts to realize her noble dreams. Within a brief time, the portal gained popularity and won several online contests. Alongside ayol.uz, we launched projects erkak.uz and farzand.uz. The goal was to become a resource for women, men, and those raising children.

The Dream of Benefitting Others

My dream has always been the same: to be of use to others and help improve their lives, even if that change meant very little. From tiny things to the big ones, from drawing as a child and thus making someone feel good through easing the financial problems of millions of people with technological solutions... If I can contribute to any positive change in the world, I consider my dream came true.

A lot of young people are keen on my career ladder – the exodus to Türkiye, a master’s degree in England, and working in one of the Big Four – and turn to me for advice. I always try to help them with guidance. I write posts in Uzbek and English on social networks to share interesting information on the topics I learned and my experiences. In my philosophy, knowledge is a trust granted to us, and we are supposed to give it to others just as we have learned from others.

To be sure, we can bring more benefit in matters we understand and are close to us. I have lived abroad for almost 20 years. It is vital for Uzbekistanis living far from their homeland to bond with each other, support one another, and share advice. I try to participate in any Uzbek project in the UK. There are a lot of Uzbek young men and women growing up here who were born and raised in Britain. It is essential to teach them the Uzbek language and culture to help them preserve their values. In this regard, I also consider it an important mission to serve in initiatives and donations that connect expats with Uzbekistan.

The dynamics of Uzbekistan's diaspora in the UK have always depended on the politics and the mood and attitude of their government back home. There have been times when members of the Uzbekistani community here tried to avoid the events that, by large, were hosted in our embassy in London. Compatriots gathered in smaller circles: financiers got together separately, refugees or policymakers flocked in their own company, others caught up in separate. So our diaspora was not strong and united.

Today, all Uzbekistanis in Britain are quite close-knit. We can see that from their active participation in charity projects undertaken in cooperation with EBRD, at humanitarian aid campaigns for the homeland during the pandemic, and at the festivities of Navruz and Independence Day. Probably the best example of this positive trend was the Uzbekistan Culture and Food Festival under the Tower Bridge in 2023, with thousands of participants coming together.

Another important issue for Uzbekistanis in Britain is the second­generation compatriots, our children, youngsters who are born and raised here. It is significant to teach them the Uzbek language and culture, as well as to help them conserve their traditions and values. Therefore, a group of Uzbekistanis set up the Uzbekistan Cultural Centre in 2018.

Diaspora events require team efforts and the unanimous and harmonious work of a lot of people. In these cases, someone should take the initiative, lead the project, and call on everyone to be active. If I see this need, I always take on the organizational tasks. I see this as my obligation and social responsibility.

Interview by Saidaziz Azamov

This piece was previously published in Uzbekistan‘s Club magazine.