Ulugbek Inoyatov

Ulugbek Ilyasovich Inoyatov was born in Tashkent on 6 August 1962. He trained as an engineer at the Tashkent Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1985 (today Tashkent State Technical University), and took a diploma at the Tashkent Finance Institute in 1998. He is a professor.

He started teaching straight after graduation, first as an assistant at his own polytechnic institute and then, in 1989–1993, as a postgraduate student. The next six years were spent at the Tashkent Institute of Architecture and Construction, where he was deputy dean, then dean of the Faculty of Economics and associate professor of economics and management.

At the turn of the century he moved into secondary specialised education and headed the Tashkent College of Finance and Economics (1999–2003). For the next three years he worked in the head of state’s office as State Adviser to the President on science, education and culture and chief consultant of the National Programme for Personnel Training. In 2006 he came back to the college as director and stayed until 2011, when he became rector of Tashkent State Pedagogical University.

A presidential decree of 8 February 2013 appointed Inoyatov Minister of Public Education of Uzbekistan. He was relieved of the post on 20 June 2018 and until June 2019 then led Namangan State University as its rector.

On 1 June 2019 a plenum elected him chairman of the Central Council of the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan. Since 2020 he has been a deputy of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, and in that year he also became deputy speaker of the chamber. The Central Council’s plenum proposed him as presidential candidate on 12 May 2023 and the party congress approved the nomination on 29 May. In the 9 July election Inoyatov came third, with 629,116 votes, about 4 per cent.

He holds the Shuhrat Medal (2006) and the Order of Friendship, Do‘stlik (August 2023). On 13 May 2025 he announced in the Legislative Chamber that the People’s Democratic Party faction was declaring itself the parliamentary opposition.