The Minister of Energy, Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov filed a complaint to the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs against finance blogger Otabek Bakirov. This was reported by Bakirov himself on his Telegram account.
According to him, the reason for filing the complaint was a publication related to the Sagbon substation, which supplies power to the Almazar district of Tashkent and the Tashkent district of the Tashkent province.
Otabek Bakirov has repeatedly drawn attention to the constant repair of this substation and the replacement of transformers (from February to May, the Ministry of Energy reported problems at this substation six times).
He noted that the Sagbon substation was "a station where, whenever the Mirzamakhmudov's power workers get bored, they either change the transformers or repair it."
Bakirov also asked the minister to "take time for a while from his duties serving his big brothers in Kremlin and Gazprom" and personally visit the Sagbon substation. "There is either a "black hole" there that is absorbing billions, or there is some kind of curse on the station that is not letting go of the two districts, he wrote.
It is noteworthy that the post was published on June 5, 2023, and the complaint was filed on October 10, 2024, that is, almost a year and a half later. At the same time, six days before filing the complaint, Mirzamakhmudov was a guest of the Lolazor podcast, where Otabek Bakirov is also one of the hosts.
According to Minister Mirzamakhmudov, the content of the post contains insults and libel, so appropriate measures must be taken against me.
Bakirov noted that the first issue of Lolazor, at the suggestion of energy workers, the project participants visited the Sagbon substation, where the minister's visit was also expected, and wrote a short report.
"In any case, after this, our Tashkent district was disconnected from Sagbon, and now we receive electricity from other substations located in our district," he said.
Otabek Bakirov claims that the complaint was filed "not by citizen Mirzamakhmudov, but by Minister Mirzamakhmudov."
The complaint is currently being reviewed by the cybersecurity department of the Tashkent city police department. The examination should determine whether the cases of insult and defamation specified in the complaint by Minister Mirzamakhmudov contain. Bakirov said that he has already given explanations and testimony to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"In any case, I perceive the minister's actions as an attempt at energy censorship. In short, instead of solving and eliminating problems in the energy sector, which is in an increasingly dire state, attempts are being made to stop criticism, create and strengthen an atmosphere of secrecy," he believes.
"However, such attempts, no matter how many administrative resources are directed at this, are useless. As long as the current conditions allow us to study the grave situation in the energy sector, write about the reasons and ask uncomfortable questions to those in charge, this will continue. Besides, it will not be possible to force everyone to remain silent anyway,” Bakirov concluded.
