Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Today, on 20 August 2020, the first meeting of the National Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Combating Corruption was held.

The meeting, which was held in the form of video conference, was chaired by the Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Chairman of the National Council Tanzila Narbaeva.

The event was attended by senators, members of the Council, senior officials of state authorities and administration, research institutions, as well as representatives of the media.

It was noted that the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan was created by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 29 June 2020 "On additional measures to improve the anti-corruption system in the Republic of Uzbekistan." At the same time, the Republican Interdepartmental Commission on Combating Corruption and its territorial interagency commissions were transformed into the National Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Combating Corruption and its territorial councils.

Over the past three years, the country has adopted more than 10 normative legal acts aimed at preventing and combating corruption, suppressing corruption in all spheres of state and public construction, approved "Road maps" and action plans. In addition, the Law "On Combating Corruption" clearly defines the responsibilities of each state body.

Official relations have been established with a number of international non-governmental non-profit organizations, systematic work is underway to raise the position of our country in international rankings.

During the meeting, it was noted that measures are being taken to eliminate bureaucratic barriers, reduce the "shadow economy" and implement the "Sphere without corruption" project.

Nevertheless, it was noted that corruption phenomena are still observed, and our people suffer from them, therefore, special attention should be paid to ensuring the proper functioning of the Agency for Combating Corruption of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the National Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Combating Corruption.

In particular, the need was noted for the development of drafts of the Charter of the National Council, the National Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2021-2025 and the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2021-2022, as well as improving a number of laws in this area.

During the meeting, members of the Council also provided information on the implementation of the tasks specified in the Presidential Decree. In particular, special attention was paid to the work in the field of preventing and combating corruption, which should be carried out by the Agency as a special authorized state body, the gradual introduction of the internal anti-corruption control system in all state and economic bodies in 2020-2021, the development of appropriate "Road maps" to improve the position of Uzbekistan in international ratings in this area, conduct a study of the state of compliance with legislation in the field of housing and communal services, water management, construction and energy, public procurement, management and use of state property, introduction of the electronic platform "E-Anticor.uz" and a special mobile program to inform the Agency about cases of corruption.

The decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 27 May  2019 envisages the implementation of the "Sphere without corruption" project as an experiment, first in the areas of capital construction and higher education, the gradual introduction of this project from 1 April 2020 in other areas.

At the meeting, it was proposed to implement the project "Sphere without corruption" in the most important areas of today, namely in the health care system and public procurement. In this regard, working groups have been formed to prepare and implement the "Sphere without corruption" project in these areas.

An appropriate decision was made on the issues considered.