Bahodir Sidikov. Photo: Uzbekneftegaz press service.
Bahodir Sidikov (also spelled Siddikov), the former chairman of the management board of Uzbekistan’s state oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz, has been detained on suspicion of embezzling state funds and other corruption-related offenses, Podrobno.uz reported, citing sources familiar with the situation.
According to the outlet, Uzbekistan’s law enforcement agencies have not yet issued any official confirmation of Sidikov’s detention.
Media sources say that several other senior executives of Uzbekneftegaz are also under investigation. They are suspected of large-scale misappropriation of budget funds and abuse of office in the management of assets in the country’s oil and gas sector.
Sidikov’s detention reportedly occurred about a month after he left his post as head of the state company. His dismissal became known in mid-December 2025, when officials said he was stepping down “in connection with a transition to another job,” without providing further details.
Sidikov’s resignation came one day after Alisher Sultanov was removed from his position as the president’s representative for energy security.
Abdugani Sanginov, previously the head of Uzbekgidroenergo, was appointed chairman of Uzbekneftegaz to replace Sidikov.
Bahodir Sidikov led Uzbekneftegaz from March 2023 and had previously held the same position in 2019–2020. He has worked in the oil and gas industry since 1999.
Uzbekneftegaz is Uzbekistan’s largest state-owned company. The holding объединяет more than 50 enterprises, including 13 joint ventures and 10 core companies engaged in the extraction and processing of hydrocarbons. The group is involved in hydrocarbon production, domestic supply, oil and gas processing, the manufacture of high value-added products, and the export of technological goods. Uzbekneftegaz is among the country’s five largest taxpayers: in 2024, it paid 4.2 trillion soums in taxes (about $350 million).
