Otabek Umarov: the rise and fall of the son-in-law of Uzbekistan’s president

28 апреля 2026 г.

Formally, Otabek Umarov holds the position of a sports official, albeit at a senior level. However, this role is often viewed as secondary to his status as the son-in-law of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

At one point, Umarov married the president’s younger daughter, Shahnoza Mirziyoyeva. As the saying goes, not everyone fully understands the significance of such connections.

In many post-Soviet Central Asian states, family ties of this kind are frequently seen as an important factor in accelerated career advancement.

Random people do not become sons-in-law of clan leaders, especially not of someone like Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who holds an official state position and emphasizes his leadership in one of the most influential clans in modern Uzbekistan. Umarov’s story is a vivid example of the formation of a new elite around the current president.

What is more, as in most such career catapults, Umarov’s rise to the top has dark spots and failures. Judge for yourself: the beginning of Otabek Umarov’s career, a graduate of the Tashkent Institute of Textile and Light Industry, was the most ordinary possible — after graduating, Umarov worked within the Uzavtosanoat structure and gradually rose to the position of deputy general director of the UzAvto Odessa division. A perfectly ordinary middle manager.

And then suddenly — a career leap, which we did not call a “career catapult” for nothing — in 2017 Umarov got a job in President Mirziyoyev’s State Security Service, and already a year later became first deputy head of the presidential security service. For a relatively young official, this was an unprecedented career jump.

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At the same time, Umarov began actively building positions in the sports industry. He headed the Uzbekistan Triathlon Federation, the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Association, and the Central Asian MMA Confederation. In 2020, Umarov became vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia, representing Central Asia.

It should not be thought that in the countries of former Soviet Asia these are purely sports positions. Under clan-based systems and de facto dictatorships, this is a way to formalize the status of people who have a certain weight in the power structure. Roughly like Comrade Stalin, who held the modest position of General Secretary of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). On the surface — just a simple secretary, a paper pusher. But in reality?

The same is true with Otabek Umarov — a neutrally sounding position in the Olympic Council in fact gives influence far beyond Uzbekistan. The Olympic Council of Asia coordinates sports policy across dozens of countries on the continent, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. In practice, this means the creation of an international political-sporting channel of influence for Tashkent. And, moreover, huge sums of money circulate there. And not always legally.

But all of this is only the external, beautiful facade. Behind it stands a different Otabek Umarov — the real one. The one who builds for the Mirziyoyev clan and for himself personally a network of influence in the security services, redirects streams of state money into commercial structures closed around himself and his inner circle, removes those who disagree or fail to understand, and expands spheres of influence both inside Uzbekistan and beyond its borders.

In fact, within the presidential family in Uzbekistan, a clan alliance of two sons-in-law has formed: Otabek Umarov — husband of Shahnoza Mirziyoyeva, and Oybek Tursunov — husband of the president’s older daughter, Saida Mirziyoyeva. Both are considered the most influential representatives of the new elite that gained key positions after Mirziyoyev came to power in 2016. And within this alliance, things are far from smooth — it is torn apart by internal struggle, the result of which is the rise and fall of its members. For now, Otabek Umarov has fallen. But for how long?

As already mentioned, in the first years of Mirziyoyev’s presidency, Umarov received a strategic post — first deputy head of the Presidential Security Service — effectively controlling access to the head of state and part of the силовики bloc. It was through this position that Otabek Umarov began forming his own network of influence among security officials and business elites.

Despite the formal absence of major companies in his name, numerous investigations point to Umarov’s involvement in a number of profitable projects. According to an OCCRP investigation, he is linked to several companies and investments in real estate in Tashkent, trade, the banking sector, the oil and gas industry, pharmaceuticals, and sugar production. It should also be noted that very quickly the ambitions of the president’s son-in-law went far beyond personal enrichment — he aimed for political power in the country.

There were grounds for this — Otabek Umarov was for a long time considered one of the potential contenders for the role of the country’s future leader. Some sources claimed that he tried to build his own vertical of influence inside the security structures.

This, predictably, led to a conflict within the presidential family. Umarov’s main opponent became the president’s older daughter, Saida Mirziyoyeva, who, together with allies in the presidential administration, strengthened her positions and effectively pushed the son-in-law out of part of the security structures.

Not least thanks to the efforts of the president’s older daughter, a high-profile investigation into Umarov’s cooperation with the Abdukadyr family became public — a group of entrepreneurs whom international journalists accused of large-scale smuggling.

According to OCCRP, the Abdukadyrs made a fortune on cross-border schemes and then invested billions of dollars in Uzbekistan’s real estate and infrastructure. Through such schemes, money from the shadow business was legalized in construction and infrastructure projects. Several sources from the business community claimed that Umarov acted as their political patron (that is, their “roof”) for their business, for which he received a share in the profits and participation in projects.

The name of the Uzbek president’s older daughter is also connected to another “leak” involving Otabek Umarov — the story of the attempted assassination of former presidential adviser Komil Allamjonov.

In 2024, unknown assailants opened fire on the official’s car in Tashkent. The investigation suggested the involvement of hired killers who were allegedly offered around $1.5 million for the murder. Several sources in the investigation linked the possible organizers of the attack to Umarov’s circle.

After this scandal, large-scale personnel purges took place in the security structures, and Umarov himself lost his post as deputy head of the presidential security service, which clearly was one of the goals of the “leak.”

The case of the assassination attempt also involved businessman Zhavlon Yunusov, whom sources called Umarov’s “right hand” in the Fergana Valley. He was extradited from South Korea and received a long prison sentence, which badly damaged both Umarov’s reputation and his prospects.

Separate resonance was caused by publications about Umarov’s luxury accessories. Journalists drew attention to a watch worth about $2 million that he wore at public events. This raised questions about the origin of the funds of an official who is formally a state employee.

Against this backdrop, the son of former president Islam Karimov also added fuel to the fire — he said that some of his mother Gulnara Karimova’s property had passed to people from Mirziyoyev’s entourage, including Umarov. The list mentioned, for example, a villa and real estate near the Charvak reservoir. However, since names from Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s family were also mentioned in that statement, the scandal was quickly disavowed.

As for Otabek Umarov’s assets, some of them were discovered, although most are registered in the names of front men. Several people in corporate documents are viewed by journalists as representing Umarov’s interests. Thus, Ismoil Abdukadirov is known — owner of 36% of Hyper Finance Group and the company’s director. Another nominal figure in Hyper Finance Group is Zafar Mamajonov, Umarov’s close friend from Kokand, where both were born.

Umarov’s brother, Oybek Umarov, also frequently appears in business networks. Associated companies: OU7 Holding, K7 Hotel Management. The company names are tied to the number 7, which Umarov actively uses as his personal brand.

Journalists discovered an offshore company, Hyper Partners (Ireland), which was registered in Ireland and later transferred management to Oybek Umarov via powers of attorney. The company existed for about a year and was then shut down.

Through partners and associated companies, Otabek Umarov’s network also includes freight transportation, imports of goods from China, and major trading platforms. These structures effectively control part of the trade in Tashkent and border regions.

Despite losing influence in the security bloc, Umarov did not disappear from the political elite. Today he is focused on the international sports sphere. In recent years he has held several important posts: vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia, first deputy head of the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan, and member of the Senate of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). In 2026, Umarov participated in a meeting of the executive committee of the Olympic Council of Asia and continues to represent Uzbekistan at international sports forums.

In fact, this looks like a partial political “evacuation” from security politics into the sphere of sports and international projects, which by no means excludes the reverse process, since it is clear that Otabek Umarov is by no means excluded from the circle of people in Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s inner orbit, even though he is not at the peak of his influence.