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Table 1: 2019 shareholding profile of investors and contractor for lots one, five, seven and eight,
Tashkent City
302
Company
Role
Lot
Shareholders
High Land City
Investor
One
Ismail Israilov (81.24%), Techno Continental
(8.19%), Next Generation Product (8.17%), and
Azizxuja Azlarov (2.40%)
Akfa Dream
World
Investor
Five
Perfect Plast Profil (21.4%)
(April 2020 update
303
: Wide Tent System 31.45%,
Techno Continental 21.36%, Perfect Plast Profil
19.23%, Asia Electron 12.92%, Atlant Metal 6.44%,
Baxodir Abdullayev 8.6%)
Premium Village Investor
Seven
Ismail Israilov (23.28%), Quality Electronics
(37.2%), Asia Electron (28.51%), Factory of
Technologies (9.3%), Athamjon Israilov (1.17%)
Discover Invest
Contractor
One, Five,
Seven and
Eight
Abror Ganiyev (86.18%), Sobirjon Xakimov
(13.82%)
Table 1 indicates that Ismail Israilov and Abror Ganiyev were both key shareholders. At the time,
both individuals were managers in the Akfa-Artel group of companies. The corporate shareholders
identified in Table 1, were tied to the same conglomerate. Akfa-Artel thus emerged as a key player in
Tashkent City. This prompted particular concern as a result of the fact both Akfa and Artel were
founded by the Mayor of Tashkent (2018-current), Jahongir Artikhodjayev, who served in 2017-18 as
head of the public directorate responsible for implementing Tashkent City.
304
Further corporate data collated between January and May of 2019, confirmed that Ganiyev jointly
owned at least four companies with Jahongir Artikhodjayev, he co-owned a further three companies
in the Akfa-Artel group (at least three), has been identified as an executive in two Akfa-Artel linked
entities, and was appointed Chairman of the Board at Akfa.
305
Additionally, the registered address
for Discover Invest, contractor for lots one, five, seven and eight, was found to be the same as J-
United Group, a key holding company 100 per cent owned during 2019 by the Mayor of Tashkent.
Israilov exhibited a similar profile to Ganiyev. He was, for instance, listed as a Manager at Akfa
Engineering and Management, a firm at the time 100 per cent owned by Jahongir Artikhodjayev. In
addition to this, the data-set revealed that Israilov co-owned at least four companies with
301
Phantom foreign investors for an open new Uzbekistan, Open Democracy, December 2018, https://www.
opendemocracy.net/en/odr/tashkent-city-project-uzbekistan-phantom-foreign-investors
302
High Land City LLC, Company Extract, 597138, accessed 19 May 2019; Akfa Dream World LLC, Company Extract, 557636, accessed 27
April 2020; Premium Village LLC, Company Extract, 538977, accessed 19 May 2019; Discover Invest LLC, Company Extract, 002784-05,
accessed 13 March 2019.
303
During the original investigation in 2019 the company extract for Akfa Dream World could not be located. Only one shareholder was
identified through stock exchange filings. Subsequently the commercial extract was identified.
304
Akfa Group CEO Ortiqhojaev named interim Tashkent mayor, The Tashkent Times, April 2018, https://tashkenttimes.uz/national/2318-
akfa-group-ceo-ortiqhojaev-named-interim-tashkent-mayor
305
For a full breakdown of the data see, Breaking with the past? Conflicts of interest and transparency in Mirziyoyev's Uzbekistan, London:
Corruption and Human Rights Initiative. Available online: https://corruptionandhumanrights.org/app/uploads/2019/05/Breaking-with-the-
Past-30-May-2019-FINAL.pdf
Spotlight on Uzbekistan
71
Artikhodjayev, he was sole shareholder in six companies linked to the Akfa- Artel group, and co-
owned at least four companies with Abror Ganiyev.
Ganiyev and Israilov were both asked if they held the shares on behalf of a third party. Neither
individual responded. The Mayor of Tashkent’s office denied he had an interest in Tashkent City.
306
Because of the Akfa-Artel group’s use of opaque offshore holding companies (see Table 2), and
Ganiyev/Israilov’s silence on the matter, it was impossible to verify whether or not the Mayor of
Tashkent had a beneficial interest in Tashkent City. It could be verified though that the Mayor
retained significant beneficial interests in the Akfa-Artel group.
Because Administrative Council tender records were withheld, Artikhodjayev’s potential role in the
selection process for Tashkent City investors could not be scrutinised either.
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