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Ayubkhon Orifjonovich Kamolov has been appointed as the new mayor of Namangan city, the regional administration’s press service reported. The appointment took place today, October 29, during an extraordinary session of the Namangan City Council of People’s Deputies. Before his appointment, Kamolov served as Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. Ayubkhon Kamolov was born on February 22, 1971, in Namangan. He holds a higher education degree. In 1993, he graduated from the Leningrad Agricultural Institute, and in 2001, from the Namangan Engineering-Pedagogical Institute. Kamolov began his career in 1993 as a first-category specialist at the Department for Market Relations Development under the Main Department of Prospective Planning and Statistics of the Namangan regional administration. From 2017 to 2019, he served as Executive Director of the State Fund for the Support of Entrepreneurship Development under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It is worth noting that the former mayor of Namangan city, Anvar Otakhodjayev, was detained while taking a $60,000 bribe. According to the investigation, Otakhodjayev, in collusion with the head of a shoe manufacturing LLC, demanded $60,000 from a citizen engaged in construction entrepreneurship. In exchange, they promised to allocate a 35-acre plot of land within the city, where old residential buildings were located, and to grant the right to construct a multi-story residential building there, along with securing financing for the project. During an operation conducted by the State Security Service (SSS), the head of the LLC was first caught red-handed while receiving the requested money, with material evidence seized. The operation was then continued, during which the mayor’s illegal actions were halted as he, through his trusted associate—the office manager of the city administration—received the $60,000 from the LLC representative. Otakhodjayev was deprived of his deputy immunity, and the Investigation Department of the SSS Directorate for Namangan Region initiated a criminal case against him and the office manager under Article 210, part 3(a) of the Criminal Code (Bribe-taking). The LLC head was charged under Article 168, Part 4(a) (Fraud) and Article 28, 211, part 3(a) (Bribe-giving). It was reported that a ’’detention’’ preventive measure was applied against Mayor Otakhodjayev. The investigation also stated that legal assessment will be given to other illegal actions committed by the mayor. Anvar Otakhodjayev has been serving as the mayor of Namangan city since December 18, 2023.
