Corruptistan: Uzbekistan

Published: March 21, 2015

Under President Islam Karimov, in power since 1989, Uzbekistan has boasted of steady economic growth based on exports like cotton, gas and gold. But the political system is highly authoritarian, and its human rights record widely decried.

There is no legal political opposition and the media is tightly controlled by the state. A UN report has described the use of torture as "systematic".

A Love Story Turned Bad

She was a president's daughter, a virtual princess, who married a successful businessman and went to Harvard but she ended a...

The Prodigal Daughter

Since her divorce and return to Uzbekistan in 2001 Gulnara Karimova, the elder daughter of President Islam Karimov, has received some US$1 billion worth of shares and payments from mobile phone companies in exchange for her influence.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has obtained records showing how the president’s daughter wielded her familial power, applied pressure to major companies, and obtained her mass wealth.

The Billion Dollar Payoff

Gulnara Karimova squeezed more than US$1 billion worth of payments and ownership shares out of international telecom-related...

Timeline of the Deal

Between 2007 and 2010, TeliaSonera, a telecom giant owned in part by the Swedish and Finnish governments, paid at least $381...

Source Documents

Gulnara Karimova squeezed more than US$1 billion worth of payments and ownership shares out of international telecom-related...

Country Profile

Human Rights Abuses in a Corrupt System

Under President Islam Karimov, in power since 1989, Uzbekistan has boasted of steady economic growth based on exports like cotton, gas and gold. But the political system is highly authoritarian, and its human rights record widely decried.

Meet the Karimovs

Under President Islam Karimov, in power since 1989, Uzbekistan has boasted of steady economic growth based on exports like cotton, gas and gold. But the political system is highly authoritarian, and its human rights record widely decried.

What Enables Corruption?

Under President Islam Karimov, in power since 1989, Uzbekistan has boasted of steady economic growth based on exports like cotton, gas and gold. But the political system is highly authoritarian, and its human rights record widely decried.