It will take 7.5 hours instead of 15 hours to travel from Tashkent to Khiva: “Jalaluddin Manguberdi” train service has started. Information of cyber security personnel has been stolen: hackers are issuing an open threat to the authorities. The trial against Gulnara Karimova was temporarily suspended in Switzerland: the issue of returning 350 million dollars to the Uzbek people is under question.
Some important news related to the life of Uzbekistan for the past week – in the Kun.uz digest.
“Jalaluddin Manguberdi” went on the road
A high-speed train has been launched between Tashkent and Khiva. Today, on the morning of May 3, the “Jalaluddin Manguberdi” train started its first flight and left Tashkent Central Station for Khiva. The steel caravan purchased from Korea can travel at speeds of up to 260 km/h and reach its destination in 7 hours and 31 minutes. For comparison, the travel time on traditional trains in this direction is 14-15 hours.
The new train runs three times a week. As for the ticket price, it cannot be called cheap. The ticket for the trains, which we mentioned above, travel for 14-15 hours, currently costs from 245,000 to 349,000 soums, depending on the type of carriage. “Jalaluddin Manguberdi” ticket – 780 thousand soums. If we compare it with the price of an air ticket, UzAirways Tashkent-Urganch flight tickets start from 770,000 soums without baggage. The fare for a flight with baggage and the possibility to return or change the date of the ticket is 840,000 soums.
There is also news regarding railway traffic in the Fergana Valley: a loop electric train connecting the cities of Margilan, Ko’kan, Namangan and Andijan launched. On Monday, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrived in Margilon from Kogan on the first flight in this direction as part of his visit to Fergana. The 324-kilometer railway ring is served by new electric trains manufactured in Tashkent. The trains have air conditioning, free Wi-Fi and USB ports. The ticket price is 15,000 soums, which is cheaper than a taxi.
This week it became known that the purchase of electric trains from the Czech company Škoda is back on the agenda. As part of the visit of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to Uzbekistan on Thursday, an agreement was signed with Škoda on the purchase of 10 electric trains. signed. As part of the previous agreement signed in 2023, it was agreed to supply 30 electric trains worth 320 million euros, but this did not materialize. The new agreement is supported by the Czech state insurance company and the European Investment Bank.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev calls the visit of the Czech Prime Minister “the beginning of a new stage in the history of mutual relations”. described. Within the framework of the visit, issues such as increasing mutual trade to 1 billion dollars, deepening technological cooperation with Czech companies were on the main agenda. It is planned to restore direct flights between Tashkent and Prague.
Press freedom index: we’ve moved up a notch, but…
Today, May 3, is International Press Freedom Day. On the eve of the date, the Paris-based international NGO Reporters Without Borders released its annual Press Freedom Index. announced. According to him, the situation with press freedom in Uzbekistan remains “very serious”.
International observers gave a score of 35 out of 100 to the press freedom situation in Uzbekistan, which is slightly lower than last year. That is, according to absolute indicators, the freedom of journalistic activity in our country continues to decrease. Compared to other countries, due to the fact that the negative trend in them is faster than ours, we moved up one place in the general rating and took the 147th place.
Reporters Without Borders classifies countries with a rating of less than 40 points as having a “very serious” press freedom situation. Uzbekistan managed to get out of this category in 2019, but by 2024, our country will again join the ranks of the countries marked in dark gold color. The updated index shows that economic and security indicators of press freedom in Uzbekistan have improved, but the situation has worsened according to political, legal and social criteria.
Officials of Uzbekistan consider the Press Freedom Index to be one of the 15 most important international ratings. 2024 of the Senate decision with, in 2026, the task was set for Uzbekistan to score 39 points in this index. In practice, it turned out to be the opposite: our rating score decreased even more than it was at that time.
Against this background, Minister of Energy Jorabek Mirzamahmudov filed a complaint against public activist Otabek Bakirov to law enforcement agencies. it became known. According to Bakirov according tothe minister repeatedly complained about his posts on the Telegram channel and the X network – a total of 4 times. These complaints were consolidated into one case, and the claims of the government member were brought to court through the internal affairs and prosecutor’s offices. The court session scheduled for Friday was not held. A lawyer as reportedthe judge informed that he will call another day after getting acquainted with the case documents.
The trial against Gulnara Karimova was suspended in Switzerland
It may become more difficult to bring back hundreds of millions of dollars from Swiss banks, which are said to belong to the people of Uzbekistan. Earlier this week, the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland decided to suspend the part of the criminal case against Gulnara Karimova, as she was unable to participate in the proceedings in person. decided.
According to the judges, all possible measures were taken to ensure Karimova’s direct participation in the trial. In particular, for the first time in its history, the Federal Criminal Court sent its representative outside of Switzerland to testify against the defendant. Officials of the court first came to Tashkent in 2024, and then in January 2026. During the second visit, the Uzbek side flatly refused the request to send Karimova to Switzerland for testimony. As a result, the court decided to stop the part of the corruption case related to him.
to the Swiss press according tothe judges also considered the option of conducting a trial in absentia against Gulnara Karimova, but it was not approved. Because the defense side stated that the defendant wanted to participate in the trial, but did not have such an opportunity, and asked to stop the trial. Lawyer Gregoire Manja and relatives of Karimova interpret the court’s decision as “practically equal to acquittal”. The Uzbek side, which is trying to return several hundred million dollars from Switzerland, did not react to the court’s decision.
Let’s remind that the Swiss side has already confiscated funds in the amount of 313 million dollars within the framework of other criminal cases, including that of Gulnara Karimova. A restitution agreement was concluded between the two countries on the return of this money. spent. In addition to the 313 million confiscated, another 350 million dollars are frozen in criminal proceedings. is left. The issue of returning these funds will be resolved in further legal proceedings.
My doctor is also a patient…
Personal data of Uzbeks are again in the hands of hackers. Interestingly, this time the employees of the Cyber Security Center themselves became victims. Kun.uz’s as determinedon April 27, the personal data of the employees of the Cybersecurity Center of Uzbekistan was put up for sale on the platform specialized in data trading of cybercriminals and hackers.
The hacker selling the data claimed in the ad that he had “successfully penetrated the internal systems of the Cyber Security Center” and “gained access to the databases of the State Security Service and intelligence officers.” As a proof of his words, he publicly published the personal data of 100 employees working at the Cyber Security Center. Among them are the names of the employees, their position in the company, and their social security number.
The hacker claims that the information at his disposal, including the complete list of employees of the Cyber Security Center, is “extremely large”. It also contains information that is “much more confidential” than has been made public. The hacker also openly wrote down his offer to the Uzbek authorities: according to him, if the authorities want to “stop the full publication” of the information, he should pay 200,000 dollars. “Otherwise, new information will soon be leaked, and this will have very bad consequences for them,” the English-language announcement said.
The Cybersecurity Center has commented on the situation and said that these claims are not true. “It should be noted that the internal information systems of the Cyber Security Center have not been compromised and this type of database is not used”the center said in a statement.
At the same time, the press secretary of the center, Dilshod Torayev, who spoke to Kun.uz, confirmed that the personal information posted by the hacker actually belongs to the employees. He said that the names and surnames of the employees and their positions are also available on the official website. However, the JSHSIR number of the employees posted by the hacker was not obtained as a result of the hacking of the systems at the Cyber Security Center.
“It appears that this information is quite old. It is possible that our employees’ information on another server was attacked. We are currently investigating the possible sources of the leak one by one. However, this is not a breach of the Cyber Security Center’s systems.” Torayev said.
What else happened this week?
The National Investment Fund launched an IPO in Tashkent and London. That is, for the first time in history, the shares of the company in Uzbekistan are freely traded on the international stock market is being released. Purchase orders will be accepted until May 12, with secondary sales beginning May 18. At the Tashkent Stock Exchange, UzNIF shares are placed at 4.65 soums, with a 5 percent discount for individuals. It should be noted that the National Investment Fund has 25 to 40 percent of shares of 13 large state-owned companies. Based on the IPO price, the fund’s market capitalization is $1.95 billion.
In order to save energy, it was forbidden to limit the consumption of gas and electricity. According to the presidential decree signed on April 29, it will not be allowed to save electricity and natural gas due to the disconnection of consumers from the network and introduction of restrictions was placed. The reason for this is that the decree specifies a number of tasks to increase energy efficiency and economy. As a result, such a norm may have been necessary to prevent some officials from chasing after the report and imposing restrictions in order to save money. At the same time as the signing of this decree, the head of the electricity company of 44 districts and cities with high losses in electricity fired.
Starting for the 2026 Hajj season. This year 15,000 pilgrims from Uzbekistan will also go to this pilgrimage. The cost of the trip is 77 million soums marked. From May 2 to May 18, there will be direct flights from 9 cities of Uzbekistan to Medina. Flights from Uzbekistan to Medina are carried out by the Saudi low-cost carrier Flyadeal, and the return of pilgrims is carried out by Uzbekistan Airways. We remind you that applicants can sign up for next year’s Haj pilgrimage through the MyGov portal.
A new mechanism for taxing Dalahovli is proposed. Tax Committee for public discussion of the relevant draft document put. According to it, it is planned to create a single electronic database of all accommodation facilities operating in the field of tourism, including Dalahovli. From January 1, 2027, they may be obliged to permanently enter the price of the services they provide into a single platform. Let’s recall the presidential decision made last year basicallyfrom July 1, 2026, the procedure for formalizing the lease of dalahovli through the “Tax” application should be established.
Author – Komron Chegaboev
Host – Babur Akmalov
Image master – Shahruz Abdurayimov
Sign language interpreter – Ezoza Akhmedova
