Chairman of the Hosildor Oltintola cooperative, Abdurasul Haitov © Kun.uzUzbekistan’s cotton sector, long associated with state control and forced labor, is now facing a different but equally destructive crisis. Despite promises of reform and privatization, private cotton clusters – the powerful companies that dominate cotton production – have accumulated huge debts to farmers dating back to the 2023–2024 harvests. These unpaid debts, acknowledged by the chairman of the Tax Committee...
