Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — A Furkat District criminal court has sentenced four employees of Garden Catering Trade in a case involving the mass food poisoning of 105 children attending state kindergartens in Fergana in February 2026.
The company’s head, a technologist, a director and an accountant were found guilty of various offences, including violations of sanitary requirements, embezzlement of public funds and document forgery.
According to an official statement from the judicial authorities of Fergana Region, the verdict was delivered on 21 September 2026.
The court took into account the defendants’ admission of the damage caused and its compensation, their remorse and the fact that they had no previous convictions. It also considered that the legal representatives of the victims had raised no claims.
Garden Catering Trade head Sh.T. was sentenced to three years and six months of restriction of liberty, while technologist R.A. received a three-year sentence of restriction of liberty. Director I.B. and accountant A.S. were each sentenced to three years of corrective labour. Sh.T. and R.A., who had previously been held in custody, were released in the courtroom.
The court statement said the defendants were not barred from engaging in specific activities as part of their sentences. It explained that they were business entities and that the legislation did not provide for this type of punishment in the circumstances of the case.
No appeals against the verdict had been received at the time of publication. However, parties who disagree with the first-instance ruling may challenge it through appeal or cassation proceedings, or file a protest in accordance with the law.
According to case materials, on 20 February 2026, Garden Catering Trade delivered meat dolma to state kindergartens in Fergana. The following day, 105 children were diagnosed with acute foodborne diarrhoeal illness after eating the dish.
An inspection by the sanitary and epidemiological department of Fergana Region detected Salmonella enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus in dolma samples collected from six kindergartens in Fergana. Of 316 swab samples taken in the company’s kitchen, 80 contained bacteria from the coliform group, while 10 tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus.
In addition, 11,461 kg of table salt, 1,528 kg of cucumbers and 9,050 kg of flour delivered to the company’s warehouse were found to be substandard and removed from use.
The court established that the company had failed to comply with requirements for storing prepared meals. Food was not supposed to remain on the stove for more than two hours, and reheating was prohibited. Despite these rules, substandard meat dolma was delivered to kindergartens on 20 February.
Beyond the sanitary violations, company employees faced charges involving the misappropriation and embezzlement of funds, as well as document forgery. According to court materials, officials inflated the number of children listed in daily menus and submitted false reports to obtain budget payments.
Investigators identified, among other episodes, the misappropriation of 330.8 million soums and the preparation of documents falsely claiming that children had been fully supplied with butter and meat, involving a total of about 263 million soums. The case materials also refer to electricity theft and damage caused to the electricity supply company in Kuvasay.
Other episodes concerned food deliveries to kindergartens in July and August 2025. According to the court, reports included unjustified mark-ups and records of food deliveries that had actually been deemed unfit for consumption and returned to the company.
Garden Catering Trade had contracts to supply prepared meals to a total of 238 state kindergartens in Fergana, Margilan and Kuvasay, as well as Fergana and Kuva districts.
The company had previously attracted attention over the procedure used to select it to organise kindergarten meals. In July 2024, Fergana Region Governor Khayrullo Bozorov decided to introduce catering services in state kindergartens in Kuvasay. The company subsequently received the right to supply meals without a tender or competitive selection process for an initial five-month period.
Uzbekistan’s Anti-Corruption Agency had reported violations in the organisation of food services at state preschool institutions in the region.
According to the agency, the direct selection of Garden Catering Trade was inconsistent with the requirements of public procurement legislation and a Cabinet of Ministers resolution.
