On January 14, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the bill amending the Code of Administrative Responsibility into law, which provide for the imposition of a fine on officials for violating public procurement regulations. The bill was passed by the Legislative Chamber on December 15 and was approved by the Senate on December 19.

As of January, 2021, Uzbekistan’s permanent population stood at 32.345 million people, an increase by 653.7 thousand, or 1.9% to the last year, the Statistics Committee reported.

The Tajik headquarters to strengthen anti-epidemic measures to prevent the spread of the new COVID-19 infection ruled to resume regular flights between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, announced the director of the Civil Aviation Agency under the Government of Tajikistan, Ikrom Subkhonzoda, Khovar reported.

On January 15, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev familiarized himself with the new building of the Senate in the center of Tashkent (the former building of the Foreign Ministry), the presidential press service of the head of state said.

On January 15, deputies of the Legislative Chamber elected Feruza Eshmatova as the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) replacing Ulugbek Mukhammadiev who had held this post since May 2015, the press service of the lower house said.

On January 13, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree on the radical improvement of the system of financing the activities of the judiciary, Norma.uz reported.

At the Jan 13 meeting, the Legislative Chamber discussed amendments to the Administrative Liability Code, providing for a reduction in fines for some violations of the Road Traffic Rules. The amendments were proposed by a group of deputies based on the findings of study of Uzbekistan traffic violation fines and foreign experience. They were supported by the Chamber in the first reading of the bill.

New standards of educational achievement by grade and subject are being launched by the Ministry of Public Education in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Legislative Chamber at today’s meeting approved the candidacies of two ministers, the press service of the chamber reported.

At the Academy of the Armed Forces on January 12, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired an expanded meeting of the Security Council on the results of the activities of the Armed Forces and military-administrative sectors in 2020 and tasks for the future, the presidential press service said in a statement.

At the meeting, organized by the Committee on Defense and Security of the Legislative Chamber, the issues of ensuring the implementation of the objectives set by the President in his address to the Oliy Majlis on the guaranteed protection of human rights and freedoms, the consistent follow-up of reforms to ensure the rule of law were discussed.

The Uzbek journalist and blogger Abdukarim Mirzaev, who was arrested by Turkish police in Istanbul on December 11, has been released, the religious channel RegistonTV, where he worked, said on its website. All charges have been reportedly dropped.

The Samarkand province governor Erkinjon Turdimov went on a short vacation to improve health, the press service of the provincial governor’s office said.

The First Deputy PM Achilbay Ramatov left for Jizzakh to chair the government commission meeting to study the causes of the collapse of a multi-storey residential building in Jizzakh city and prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Republic Korea will expedite Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks with Uzbekistan, the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in said in his New Year address on Monday.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev had a telephone conversation with the president-elect of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov on Monday.

A footage surfaced on social networks showing mostly women residents of Pakhtakor district of Jizzakh province, in protest against the lack of gas and electricity, blocked the road.

Companies owned by close relatives of two officials who work as heads of the Unitary Customer Service engineering company were awarded public contracts for construction.

A clandestine religious school (hujra) was banned in Tashkent on December 10. The minors who studied there were allegedly beaten on a regular basis, UzReport TV channel reported.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made his first trip to Jizzakh province after his vacation on January 11. The first destination of his trip was the artillery brigade of the Central Military District, the presidential press service said.