The Andijan province governor's office has made it a tradition to hold the annual Dunyo Sadolari international pop music festival (Sounds of the World) in the Khanabad city. In previous years, world stars performed at the festival — the likes of Ottawan, Boney M, Dr. Alban, Jony, Jah Khalib, Inna and others.

This year, the organizers plan to be no less in scale: as stated in the decree signed by the acting mayor of Khanabad city, E. Kholmirzaev, the third festival will take place on August 15-17. Among the invited singers are the Turkish singer Mustafa Sandal, the Swedish singer of Iranian origin Arash, the Italian singer In-Grid, the Indian star Alisha Chinai, Arabesque band and a number of local artists.

It is planned to spend 6 billion soums from the local budget for the festival, but the final costs will be disclosed after the event. 

The highest price tag for performing will paid to Arash - 2 billion 95 million soums (approximately 164 thousand dollars at the current exchange rate). Mustafa Sandal will perform for 2 billion 49 million soums (160 thousand dollars). In-Grid and Alisha Chinai will receive a total of 837 million soums (65 thousand dollars). In total, almost 5 billion soums - more than 390 thousand dollars – will be paid to foreign singers.

However, the real fees of these singers are much lower. For example, Mustafa Sandal and Arash can be invited for a maximum of 200 thousand dollars together, and In-Grid and Alisha Chinai - for about 20 thousand dollars. Thus, the fees indicated in the documents may be almost twice as high.

Presumably, the inflated fees can be explained by who exactly has invited foreign stars.

Balloon worth 350 million and a stage at one billion soums

Another supplier — Oltin Tosh Ulgurji — was registered in Andijan 10 days before the inking of contract for the lease of an aerostat (hot air balloon) worth 350 million soums.

The stage equipment (podium, light, sound, screens and decor) worth 1.25 billion soums will be provided by the Dunyo Sahnalari company, registered the day before the conclusion of the contract for almost 100 thousand dollars.

Acting mayor of Khanabad E. Kholmirzaev did not explain the criteria by which the contractors were selected.

The contracts were signed directly, without a tender.

The Dunyo Sadolari festival is proclaimed as a platform for promoting pop music and discovering young talents, as well as a way to increase the tourist attractiveness of Khanabad.

However, the two previous editions were marked by negative discussions, including delays in paying prizes to winners and non-transparent use of the budget.