According to the press service of the Antimonopoly Committee, at the government meeting on October 12, Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov called on the Committee and UzAuto Motors not to make a hasty decision in the ongoing lawsuit. He suggested that the work should be carried out in cooperation with international consultants as much as possible, taking into account their studies.

“The videoconference chaired by the Prime Minister and the issues raised at it are being widely discussed by the mass media and bloggers today. The issues raised by some bloggers are misinterpreted.

This meeting focused on the issues of effectively organizing projects set in the presidential decree PF-6079 on approval of the strategy “Digital Uzbekistan – 2030” and its effective implementation.

The meeting was not devoted to the activities of the Antimonopoly Committee nor the UzAuto Motors case.

One of the main topics discussed at the meeting was the information policy pursued by government agencies, the effectiveness of the work of press secretaries, ensuring openness and transparency in working with the media.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister expressed his views on the work currently being done by government agencies in the above areas, citing many positive and critical examples. In particular, it was suggested that the ongoing litigation between the Antimonopoly Committee and UzAuto Motors should not be conducted in a hasty way, if possible, this process should be reviewed in cooperation with international consultants, taking into account their studies.

It is also envisaged that the heads of state bodies should cooperate with the media on the basis of solid and proven evidence, otherwise these actions may have populist look,” the Committee said in a statement.

The AIMC head Asad Khodjayev said on his social network page that at the meeting with the participation of the Prime Minister, first of all, relevant instructions were given to improve the work of the press services of ministries and departments.

“At the same time, it was stressed that every word spoken by the official in the information space can have a socio-political character, which can lead to the spread of one-sided ideas that confuse the public. For example, yesterday it was reported that the statistics of the issue of coronavirus patients, which was in the spotlight, in one region was reduced by 10 times compared to the reality. A number of experts had to comment on the issue, which caused a great deal of controversy.

It has shown in practice that not analyzing the difference between simple statistics and general information, not checking the discrepancies in official information, confuses the population.

In comparing statistical data, it is necessary to take into account the collection and generalization of data, the basis for inclusion in statistics, etc., and finally to seek the advice of specialists.

Also, the statement of the Antimonopoly Committee on the return of a certain part of the payments by UzAuto Motors to customers for purchased cars was presented as an example.

In the Committee case, it would be good if such calculations were approved by audit companies with the participation of foreign consultants in order to ensure impartiality. Otherwise, it will simply turn into a populist statement. In this case, the calculation was not approved by the auditor,” Asad Khodjayev wrote.

He added that he was surprised that messages posted by third parties on the internet were also followed in the media. Khodjayev called on the mass media to refrain from disseminating unverified, unreliable information and to comply with the requirements of the country’s legislation.