President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a decree aimed at strengthening competition and ensuring transparency in the public procurement system. The document sets ambitious goals to fully digitalize the sector and drastically reduce corruption risks by 2030.
A key pillar of the reform is the large-scale introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Starting from March 1, 2026, a dedicated AI-based electronic module will be launched on a specialized information portal. This module will automatically calculate the average market price of goods and services, and public customers will be required to determine the starting procurement price exclusively through this system.
The decree establishes a strict price corridor: if the procurement price exceeds the AI-calculated market benchmark by more than 10 percent or falls below it by more than 20 percent, the transaction will be automatically flagged as “high risk.” Such cases will immediately trigger unscheduled inspections by supervisory authorities.
According to the public procurement development strategy through 2030, the share of competitive procurement procedures is expected to reach 80 percent, while budget savings are projected to amount to 25 trillion Uzbek soums. At the same time, the government plans to increase the share of domestically produced goods in public procurement to at least 85 percent.
To support national manufacturers, an automatic notification system informing local producers about upcoming procurement plans will be introduced in early 2026. In addition, budget-funded customers will be allowed to sign direct off-take contracts of up to three years with enterprises whose localization level exceeds 30 percent.
From January 1, 2026, the fixed list of goods and services eligible for direct procurement will be abolished. Such purchases must instead be conducted through the competitive “request for proposals” procedure, unless otherwise stipulated by law.
All draft regulations that предусматривают direct contracting will be subject to mandatory anti-corruption review and assessment of their impact on competition by the Ministry of Justice and the Antimonopoly Committee.
To strengthen accountability, starting in March 2026 only the heads of procuring organizations or their deputies will be allowed to chair procurement commissions. Additionally, a public digital rating system titled “Procurement KPI” will be introduced, displaying the performance and efficiency of each government agency.
The Anti-Corruption Agency has been tasked with integrating the “e-anticor.uz” platform with the public procurement portal by mid-2026, enabling automated remote detection of conflicts of interest.
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