Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Anti-Corruption Agency of Uzbekistan revealed the theft of almost 1 billion soums as part of the One Million Uzbek Coders program.

The agency studied the expenditure of budget funds when purchasing computers and other equipment by the Ukuv Talim-Taminot company under the Ministry of Preschool and School Education. The compliance of the purchased equipment with the technical specifications was also studied.

Inspections were carried out in Ferghana, Namangan, Tashkent, Syrdarya and Jizzakh regions. Agency employees found that the technical characteristics of the computers did not fully meet the requirements specified in the contract.

Documents on the case were sent to the Department for Combating Economic Crimes at the Prosecutor General’s Office.

On 29 December 2021, Ukuv Talim-Taminot and Smart Sales Leader entered into an agreement for 25.55 billion soums for the supply of 3,380 personal computers for 7.56 million soums each.

The computers were intended for students of the One Million Programmers program in six regions of the country.

Department employees established that, within the framework of the contract with Ukuv Talim-Taminot, the Smart Sales Leader company was supposed to supply additional technical devices worth 919.36 million soums. However, the company did not do this. These funds were stolen through misappropriation.

A criminal case has been initiated against officials of Ukuv Talim-Taminot and Smart Sales Leader under paragraph “a” of Part 3 of Article 167 (theft by misappropriation or embezzlement on an especially large scale) and paragraph “a” of Part 2 of Article 205 (abuse of power or official powers causing especially large damage) of the Criminal Code. A preliminary investigation is underway.

The One Million Uzbek Coders project to train one million programmers in Uzbekistan was launched in Uzbekistan in November 2019. The project is carried out in cooperation with the UAE.