Another group of people who paid during the construction phase to buy apartments in a high-rise building in Tashkent claims they have been deceived.

According to information provided to Kun.uz, in 2018, "Smart Houses" LLC began constructing a new building on land located on Ziyo Street in the Olmazor district (behind the Victory Park).

In that same year, many citizens, eager to purchase apartments, were encouraged to invest in the project, and billions of sums were collected from them.

Over two years, a foundation was dug for the project, and several floors were built, but the apartments were not handed over to their rightful owners on time. After numerous complaints, it was revealed that the funds had been embezzled by the former owners of the company, who were later sentenced to 8 years in prison.

In December 2021, Shavkat Shermatov took over as the new founder of the company and resumed construction. According to the citizens, by 2024, the 8- and 5-story buildings were fully completed.

According to information provided to Kun.uz, the building consists of seven blocks: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Out of these, 77 apartments in blocks A, B, and C have been handed over to those who made payments.

However, the 118 apartment owners in the remaining four blocks are still without their keys, and the construction company is said to be deceiving people.

"Why aren't they giving us the keys? We don't know the reason."

"They assured us that if we were patient, we would get our homes. They said if we complained or made a fuss, it would reflect badly on us. People kept encouraging each other to wait, thinking it would only take another six months, and then six months more after that.

When we asked why they weren’t handing over the apartments, they replied, ‘Why wouldn't we? Just be patient, and we'll give them to you.’ Six years is a long time to be patient—during that period, a child could grow to be six years old,” one of the citizens said.

"It's been six years, and none of us have received our homes. The director has changed, and many other things have happened, but that's their business. We've come here on behalf of all these people, but they still aren’t giving us the keys to our completed apartments. We don't know the reason.

Even though the building is finished, the company is declaring bankruptcy. They say our contracts and receipts won't be honored and that we won’t be able to get our homes because we’re not listed in the creditor's register. We don't know why, and some of us have already paid 80-100% of the total price,” one of the women who made a payment for the apartment said.

"The building is finished, and all the apartments have been distributed. But when we ask, 'When will you give us our homes?' they just say, 'Wait a little longer.’ When we went to the administration and the prosecutor’s office, they told us to be patient. The building is 99.9% finished, and it’s time to hand over the apartments to the investors. But then, without informing us, they applied for bankruptcy two years ago and are now in the process of declaring themselves bankrupt.

The company has a legal address, but they’ve left that location. We don’t know where they are. When we went to the address, we found completely different people sitting there. They have neither an office nor a residential address. They’re not even at the construction site and are hiding from everyone," another citizen said.

One of the buyers claimed that the apartments were listed for sale on OLX and accused the construction company of deceiving people.

"The apartments were put up for sale on OLX. Their goal is to sell them and make more profit. They’re trying to profit from the situation of those who have been imprisoned. The building was constructed with our money; how could they build it if the customers hadn’t paid? Every construction company works this way—they take money starting from the foundation. So why should we be the ones to suffer?

We come from far away, hoping to buy a house—there are buyers from Karakalpakstan, Khorezm, and everywhere else. There are approximately 150 people in total. All of these people are suffering," they said.

Another woman said that the 5-story building was initially almost 8 stories, and that apartments on the 8th floor had been sold to clients. According to her, the upper floors were later demolished for some reason, reducing the building to five floors.

"When we were buying the apartments, they told us it would be a 9-story building, and they said floors 7 and 8 would also be available. There is another 9-story building nearby that has already been handed over, and people are living there now.

[...] Everything is finished now, and we should have received the keys. But instead, Shavkat Shermatov [the owner of the company] is playing games,” the woman said.

The company has been declared bankrupt and is on the verge of liquidation

Due to a tax debt of 6 billion UZS, a case for insolvency was opened against "Smart Houses" LLC by the Tashkent Interdistrict Economic Court in August 2022. In October, the court ruled that the company was bankrupt, and liquidation proceedings began.

To date, the liquidation process is still ongoing. The company’s registration card in the registry of enterprises and organizations confirms that the company remains active. So, why hasn’t the builder handed over the apartments to the customers?

Kun.uz tried to contact Shavkat Shermatov, the founder of "Smart Houses," to ask about the situation, but it was not possible. Whether the payments will be returned or not, the fate of the apartments, and who will assist the customers remains unknown.

It should be noted that last year, more than a thousand citizens were defrauded in Tashkent’s Yashnobod district after paying for apartments in a yet-to-be-constructed residential complex by "Asia Invest Favorit" LLC, with damages exceeding 300 billion UZS. Following this, a government commission, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ochilboy Ramatov, was established to resolve the issue between the builder and the citizens.

Later, in the Bagdad district of the Fergana region, it was reported that newly sold homes had been seized by the bank due to the builder's loans and other debts, leaving 46 families—who had already moved in and had no other housing—stranded.