Thursday, 08 February 2024 12:03

Dmitry Lee is jeopardizing the reputation of Uzbekistan’s President Mirziyoyev. Featured

Despite their partial accessibility in Uzbekistan, social networks seem to be actively used for leaking compromising information about officials not only of the lower and middle management levels but also those whose decisions significantly determine the nuances of the country’s economic course. So, days earlier, the public with access to Facebook was acquainted with a text questioning the cleanliness of the purchase of medical equipment produced by "General Electric" by the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan. Patriotic-minded anonymous citizens, emphasizing that the procurement of equipment was patronized by the National Agency for Project Management (NAPU) headed by Dmitry Lee, informed the country’s president that the cost of the equipment was inflated twice. Allegedly, it could actually have been purchased for three million dollars, but it ended up costing six.

Well, kickbacks are indeed not uncommon for Uzbekistan. And this information, with certain reservations, could be considered theoretically reliable if it weren’t for the business partner on the other side - "General Electric". The company is too reputable to risk its reputation for three million. Besides, in the US, a scheme for controlling the cleanliness of such deals has long been automated to the point of habit.

Not everything is as simple from Uzbekistan’s side. Let’s not be deceitful, Dmitry Romanovich Lee is a creature of the state’s top leadership, and NAPU itself was originally created for the function of neutral expert assessment of the spending of budget funds in the procurement of everything Uzbekistan needs and is willing to pay from the state treasury. The director’s tenure at NAPU is the result of a gentleman’s agreement reached, understandably, with whom. Lee operates on trust, and he understands better than others the risks of losing at least part of that trust personally. By the way, according to some information, he is one of the few businessmen (if not the only one) who at one time refused to work in tandem with a general from a well-known agency and according to the general’s rules. As a result, he was absent from Uzbekistan for six years, returning only after the cleansing of the agency and the arrest of the pretender to companions and mentors.

It is naive to assume that Dmitry Lee has no enemies or, at the very least, detractors left in the country. Is he getting in someone’s way? More likely yes than no. Numerous companies with the obligatory "impex" component have proliferated almost at every ministry and department. Formally, they conducted import-export operations on behalf of the state. But here’s what needs to be said. If previously, for example, for products of local chemical industry enterprises, in addition to the contract, it was necessary to pay cash from 20 to 100 dollars per ton (depending on the product), today this is no longer the case. Moreover, if someone dares to request this, they will immediately be reported by the first person who finds out.

For your information: quite recently, an individual entrepreneur who decided to conclude an annual contract with a well-known retail chain would inadvertently leave $100 in the documents. Today, they will be caught up with and returned the money they "accidentally forgot" in the folder with the contract.

Progress? Definitely. Are there people in power and around it who would like to turn back time? There are.

We are far from idealizing Dmitry Lee. There are no absolutely clean individuals in big business. But we are also far from believing in a kickback equivalent to the actual contract amount. For a number of reasons, Dmitry Lee remains an alien body in the power structure. Not only because he has never worked in the civil service before, but also because of the presence of quite legal wealth, of which three million dollars are not a big deal. Secondly, it’s foolish to steal when you know what will follow. Moreover, faster than you can reach the "Canadian border."

A gentleman’s agreement is called so because it does not involve betrayal. Otherwise, it ceases to be such. With all the consequences, regardless of whose relatives are behind you. And Lee, as it seems to us, understands this better than others. There are no idiots with such money.