Ismail Jurabekov, center. Photo: dunyouzbeklari.com
Ismail Jurabekov, one of Uzbekistan’s most influential politicians between 1990 and 2004, has died at the age of 94, the press service of the Ministry of Water Resources reported. In recent years, he had served as an adviser to the minister.
Jurabekov was born on September 12, 1931, in Samarkand Region. In 1955, he graduated from the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers. During the Soviet period, he held positions including minister of land reclamation and water resources of the Uzbek SSR, deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Uzbek SSR, and first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers as head of the republic’s State Agro-Industrial Committee. He also served as a deputy in the Supreme Soviet of the Uzbek SSR in its 9th through 11th convocations.
In the early years of Uzbekistan’s independence, Jurabekov led the republic’s agro-industrial complex. From 1994 to 1998, he served as deputy prime minister and minister of agriculture and water resources, and from 2000 to 2004, as presidential adviser on agricultural affairs.
He was often described as a mentor to Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan’s first president, who ruled the country until September 2016, and as the most powerful man in the republic.
Jurabekov’s political career came to an end in February 2004, when he stepped down from his post as presidential adviser under the standard phrasing “in connection with retirement.” A year later, however, the government newspaper Narodnoe Slovo published a sharply critical article about him.
The author, a senior official in the Prosecutor General’s Office, accused Jurabekov of failing to implement government reforms to introduce market methods in agriculture, neglecting sector priorities, causing a decline in production, and damaging the economy. He also alleged that Jurabekov, while serving as adviser, overstepped his authority by making decisions unilaterally, interfering in management, and issuing unlawful instructions.
A criminal case was opened against Jurabekov on charges of embezzlement and abuse of power. However, because he fully admitted guilt and due to his age (73) and health, the prosecution was dropped under a presidential amnesty decree issued on December 1, 2004, marking the twelfth anniversary of the Constitution.
After a long hiatus, Jurabekov returned to public service in 2021, when he was appointed adviser to the minister of water resources.
