Uzbekistan National News Agency (UzA)

UzA is Uzbekistan’s official state information agency, headquartered in Tashkent. Its statutory remit includes reporting on domestic and foreign policy, disseminating official information and presenting Uzbekistan’s reforms domestically and internationally. Its present framework was established by Presidential Resolution PQ-4541 of 2 December 2019 and the regulation approved by Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 3 January 2020.

Media assets

News agency: UzA, publishing in Uzbek and eight foreign languages: Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Kazakh

Constituent agency: Karakalpakstan Information Agency, known in the governing regulation as QAA

UzA maintains regional correspondent points across Uzbekistan. The 2020 regulation provides for 12 such points.

The Karakalpakstan Information Agency is not institutionally separate from UzA for the purposes of this profile. Both PQ-4541 and the implementing regulation expressly place it within UzA’s structure. Its premises and equipment are supported through the Karakalpakstan republican budget, while its management is integrated into UzA’s appointment system.

Ownership and governance

UzA is an official state information agency and legal entity reporting to the Cabinet of Ministers. Its regulation provides for a separate balance sheet and Treasury and bank accounts, but no ownership or governance structure independent of the state.

The appointment mechanism is established in law. The Cabinet of Ministers appoints and dismisses the Director General and two deputy directors. PQ-4541 additionally states that these appointments and dismissals are made with the agreement of the President.

Abdusaid Koʻchimov was appointed Director General on 10 August 2017. He was still acting in that capacity on 3 June 2026, when he represented UzA in signing an information-exchange agreement with the Bulgarian News Agency. The event was reported by the Azerbaijan State News Agency.

The Director of the Karakalpakstan Information Agency is appointed and dismissed by UzA’s Director General with the agreement of the Council of Ministers of Karakalpakstan.

UzA has a statutory Advisory Council. It is a permanent collegial body whose membership may include media-sector representatives and independent experts, with one-third of its membership renewed every two years. It does not provide independent governance: the Director General chairs the Council and approves both its composition and its operating rules.

UzA’s performance indicators are approved by the Prime Minister. The relevant Cabinet divisions continuously monitor its leadership, and performance assessments may result in rewards, disciplinary action or removal from office.

Source of funding and budget

Documents obtained by the Media and Journalism Research Center record state allocations of UZS 33.7 billion in 2023 and UZS 36.7 billion in 2024. Local experts interviewed by State Media Monitor in 2023, 2024 and 2025 described the agency as heavily reliant on government subsidy.

Official 2026 budget documentation provides more recent public evidence. UzA was allocated UZS 44.1 billion for 2026, with indicative allocations of UZS 48.7 billion for 2027 and UZS 53.6 billion for 2028. The same document sets a target of 96,000 text, photographic, video and audio items in 2026 and requires an increasing proportion of articles to be published in eight foreign languages. These figures appear in Presidential Resolution PQ-388 implementing the 2026 State Budget Law.

State financing is not the only permitted source. The governing framework provides for funding from the State Budget, UzA’s and QAA’s own funds, and other lawful sources. It permits the commercial distribution of content and prescribes how above-forecast own-source receipts are to be allocated.

Editorial independence

UzA’s output is closely aligned with government policy. Local journalists and independent experts interviewed by State Media Monitor, together with ad hoc content analysis undertaken for its research, found that coverage overwhelmingly follows official policy and avoids material critical of government actions.

The agency’s statutory mandate supports that assessment. Its regulation describes UzA as reporting on domestic and foreign policy, socio-economic changes and reforms from the standpoint of the national interests of Uzbekistan. It must report annually to the Cabinet, while its performance is monitored against indicators approved by the Prime Minister.

The 2019 presidential resolution defined UzA as the official agency for disseminating socio-political information about Uzbekistan. The implementing 2020 regulation establishes its current status, structure, functions, governance and reporting arrangements.

Presidential Decree PF-91 of 2 June 2025 provides a concrete example of direct assignment. It instructed the Ministry of Economy and Finance, together with the National Social Protection Agency, UzA, the National Television and Radio Company and the then Agency for Information and Mass Communications, to organise broad coverage of the decree’s objectives, tasks and expected results through mass media, the internet and social networks. The decree is published on LexUZ.

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

These provisions do not establish structural independence at UzA. Its Advisory Council is controlled by the Director General, its senior leadership is appointed by the Cabinet with presidential involvement, its performance indicators are government-approved and no external mechanism capable of enforcing editorial autonomy was identified.

AI and digital policy

State Media Monitor identified no comprehensive UzA policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or the full range of circumstances in which AI use must be disclosed.

Operational adoption is nevertheless documented. On 22 August 2024 UzA announced the test launch of an AI-generated reporter named Sobira Kholdorova. The virtual reporter was designed to deliver official information and breaking news in nine languages: Uzbek, English, Russian, French, Arabic, Chinese, German, Spanish and Kazakh.

UzA stated that every AI-generated video would carry a QR code linking to the corresponding text on its official website, enabling audiences to authenticate videos presented as UzA material. This is a documented disclosure and authentication measure, although State Media Monitor could not establish the subsequent scale or continuity of the project, its human-verification procedures or the models used. UzA’s launch announcement documents the system.

Classification rationale

UzA remains classified State-Controlled Media (SC).

It is state-owned and directly state-governed. UzA is an official state information agency reporting to the Cabinet of Ministers. The Cabinet appoints and dismisses its Director General and deputies, with PQ-4541 providing for presidential agreement. Its statutory Advisory Council is chaired and constituted by the Director General and therefore does not provide independent supervision.

It is predominantly state-funded. Public allocations are documented for 2023, 2024 and 2026, including UZS 44.1 billion in the official 2026 budget documentation. Extra-budgetary income is permitted, but no accounts or revenue breakdown were identified. The available budget and interview evidence supports predominant state financing while leaving its precise share unquantified.

Its editorial agenda is directed by the state. Its statutory remit centres on communicating government policy and reforms from the standpoint of national interests; the Cabinet monitors its performance against government-approved indicators; and presidential instruments directly assign it responsibility for publicising state policy. Interview and content evidence records an editorial practice aligned with those arrangements.

The general freedom and anti-censorship provisions of the Law on Mass Media are relevant formal protections, but they are not supported by independent governance, protected appointments or an external enforcement mechanism.

September 2026