Uzbekistan State Press

State Media Monitor uses Uzbek State Press as an analytical grouping for four prominent state-owned newspapers published through two combined editorial institutions. Xalq Soʻzi and its Russian-language counterpart Narodnoye Slovo share one editorial office, founded by the councils of the two chambers of the Oliy Majlis. Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka share another, founded by the Cabinet of Ministers. The grouping is not itself a legal entity.

Media assets

Newspapers: Xalq Soʻzi in Uzbek and Narodnoye Slovo in Russian, published by a single editorial office; and Yangi Oʻzbekiston in Uzbek and Pravda Vostoka in Russian, published by a second combined editorial office

Yangi Oʻzbekiston was established under the Cabinet of Ministers in January 2020. The existing Pravda Vostoka editorial enterprise was simultaneously reorganised as the combined editorial office of the two newspapers. Its first issue appeared on 25 January 2020.

Pravda Vostoka was founded on 2 April 1917 as Nasha Gazeta and adopted its present name in 1924. During the Soviet period it served as an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Uzbek SSR, the Supreme Soviet and the Council of Ministers, rather than of the Communist Party alone. It had a reported circulation of 250,000 in 1975 and marked its 108th anniversary in 2025. The newspaper’s own anniversary account confirms the founding date, original title and 1924 renaming.

Ownership and governance

The four newspapers are published through two separate state editorial institutions. Cabinet Resolution No. 139 of 3 April 2023 recorded both offices as enterprises with 100 per cent state ownership and ordered their reorganisation as state institutions. The Xalq Soʻzi and Narodnoye Slovo office was listed under the Oliy Majlis, while the Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka office was listed under the Cabinet of Ministers. The official resolution documents both entries.

The founders of Xalq Soʻzi and Narodnoye Slovo are the councils of the Legislative Chamber and Senate of the Oliy Majlis. Their joint decision of 27 February 2020 formally recorded the Cabinet’s withdrawal as a co-founder, approved a revised charter and editorial board, and instructed the founders’ representatives to conclude a contract with the editorial office. The charter and editorial-board annexes were not published.

Oʻtkir Rahmat, formally Oʻtkir Rahmatov, remains editor-in-chief of Xalq Soʻzi and Narodnoye Slovo. His position is confirmed by current newspaper mastheads and by a July 2026 institutional biography. The 2020 joint decision also identifies him as editor-in-chief.

Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka are founded by the Cabinet of Ministers. Cabinet Resolution No. 2 of 3 January 2020 established Yangi Oʻzbekiston and created the combined editorial office. Under that arrangement, the Cabinet appoints and dismisses the editor-in-chief; deputy editors are appointed by the editor-in-chief with Cabinet approval. The creation and governance arrangements were reported by the Uzbekistan National News Agency.

Salim Doniyorov has headed the combined office since January 2020 and remained editor-in-chief in September 2026. A July 2026 editorial-office report identifies him in the position, while a current Yangi Oʻzbekiston masthead identifies both the Cabinet as founder and Doniyorov as editor-in-chief.

Source of funding and budget

Direct public financing is documented for the Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka editorial office, although its individual allocation is not disclosed.

The 2026 budget implementation resolution allocates UZS 49.6204 billion in a single aggregate line covering the editorial offices of Nurly Jol, Ovozi Tojik, Jadid, Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka. The figure cannot be treated as the allocation for Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka alone.

State Media Monitor did not identify a separately itemised 2026 allocation for Xalq Soʻzi and Narodnoye Slovo. Public support is nevertheless documented. The February 2020 joint decision provided the editorial office with rent-free premises in Tashkent and instructed regional authorities to provide rent-free accommodation for its correspondent offices.

Non-budget income also exists. The newspapers sell subscriptions and advertising, while a 2023 procurement notice for the printing of Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka identified the financing source as the editorial office’s own funds.

Editorial independence

The newspapers are institutionally attached to their state founders. Xalq Soʻzi and Narodnoye Slovo are founded by the governing councils of Parliament’s two chambers, while Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka are founded by the Cabinet of Ministers.

The founding mandate of Yangi Oʻzbekiston expressly centres on explaining state reforms, presidential policy and the implementation of government programmes. Its editor-in-chief is appointed and dismissed by the Cabinet. The Xalq Soʻzi and Narodnoye Slovo founders approve the institution’s charter and editorial board, while the office is formally supplied with presidential decrees, government decisions, ministerial regulations and official statistical collections.

Formal statutory protections nevertheless exist. Articles 5 and 5¹ of Uzbekistan’s Law on Mass Media declare the media free, prohibit obstruction of or interference in media activity, and provide that state support may not be used to restrict independent professional activity. Article 7 prohibits censorship, including demands for prior approval, alteration or withdrawal of material.

These provisions do not establish structural independence from the newspapers’ founders. State Media Monitor identified no independent governing body, protected appointment process or external mechanism capable of enforcing editorial autonomy against the parliamentary or executive institutions that own and govern the two offices.

AI and digital policy

State Media Monitor could not identify a published editorial policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or audience disclosure at either editorial institution, and could not establish the extent of AI adoption in production.

Uzbekistan adopted an Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy to 2030 through Presidential Resolution PQ-358 of 14 October 2024. Law No. OʻRQ-1115 of 21 January 2026 subsequently introduced AI provisions into the Law on Informatization, including a prohibition on using conclusions produced exclusively by artificial intelligence as the basis for legally significant decisions affecting individual rights and freedoms.

Binding Rules of Ethics for the Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence took effect on 17 June 2026. They apply to persons and organisations developing, implementing or using AI systems and establish principles including transparency, intelligibility, accountability and human oversight. They also provide that AI-generated decisions should remain subject to human review and that final decisions should be taken by a person.

Classification rationale

Uzbek State Press remains classified State-Controlled Media (SC).

It is state-owned and state-governed. The two editorial institutions were formally recorded as 100 per cent state-owned. Xalq Soʻzi and Narodnoye Slovo are founded by the councils of Parliament’s two chambers, which approved their charter and editorial board. Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka are founded by the Cabinet, which appoints and dismisses their editor-in-chief. No independent supervisory body or protected appointment process was identified.

It receives direct public financing and material state support. The 2026 budget includes Yangi Oʻzbekiston and Pravda Vostoka within an aggregate UZS 49.6204 billion allocation, while Xalq Soʻzi and Narodnoye Slovo receive rent-free state premises. Both institutions may also earn their own income, and the proportions of budget and commercial revenue could not be established.

Its editorial agenda is aligned with its state founders. The founding mandate of Yangi Oʻzbekiston centres on presidential policy, state reforms and government programmes. Xalq Soʻzi and Narodnoye Slovo are directly attached to Parliament and receive official state instruments for publication. The statutory freedom and anti-censorship provisions are relevant formal protections, but no independent governance or enforcement mechanism supports them.

September 2026