Fleeing Russians help Uzbekistan chase IT dreams

Hit by regular power cuts and with popular sites like Twitter and TikTok blocked, the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan hardly seems a likely candidate for a tech boom.

But with Russia's invasion of Ukraine driving an exodus of IT specialists to former parts of the Soviet Union, authorities in Uzbekistan are hoping to speed up plans to modernise an economy best known for its vast production of cotton.

It took only one day after Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine for Uzbekistan to launch a one-stop government relocation programme for IT specialists and companies.

Offering visas, housing and child care support to individuals, and registration assistance and tax exemptions to companies, the programme has already attracted some 2,000 foreign IT specialists, the government said.

People like Anastasia Markova, a Russian citizen who recently became a public relations manager at Uzbekistan's state-run IT Park in the capital Tashkent.

Markova said she feels comfortable in the city, where Russian is still widely spoken three decades after Uzbekistan gained independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"The country accepted us as one of their own. The people are so friendly and hospitable," she said.

The IT Park in Tashkent is home to some 550 companies and at the heart of plans to increase Uzbek IT exports to more $1 billion by 2028, a 25-fold rise from last year's figure.

The park's motto, "START local and GO Global" is emblazoned on a wood panel facade at the entrance. Inside, young support staff in casual attire and headsets work at desks.

The IT Park in Tashkent is home to some 550 companies and at the heart of plans to increase Uzbek IT exports to more $1 billion by 2028, a 25-fold rise from last year's figure

The IT Park in Tashkent is home to some 550 companies and at the heart of plans to increase Uzbek IT exports to more $1 billion by 2028, a 25-fold rise from last year's figure Yevgeniy Sorochin.

The IT Park is already seeing benefits from the relocation programme dubbed TashRush -- "a name that seemed most suited to the phenomenon we are witnessing," the park's deputy director Bakhodir Ayupov said.

The Russian Association of Electronic Communications, a lobby group, said on March 22 that 50,000 to 70,000 specialists had left Russia and up to 100,000 more may follow them out of the door this month.

For the moment, Uzbekistan is a less popular destination for departing Russian IT workers than Georgia, Turkey or Armenia.