Julia Eckert, Georg Elwert (1996):
Land Tenure in Uzbekistan

1.5 The formal institutions of the land reform at local level

The Hokhimiats are the executive organs of the government at local and regional level. They are headed by the Hokhims (mayors or district governors) who are nominated by the president. Decree no. 88 transfers the responsibility for the implementation of the land reform to the Hokhimiats. Together with the kolkhoz Administration and the Association of Dehkhan farmers the Hokhimiat distributes the land.

The offices at the Hokhimiat involved in the land reform are several.

Wotkhoz keeps a water cadastre which maps the need and use of water for all agricultural and industrial land within the district. It distributes quotas to the kolkhozes for water usage according to crop and soil quality.

The Valuer's office employs a surveyor who is responsible for the evaluation of the land. It keeps the so called cadastre and, if existent, the title register. Cadasters are usually from before independence and no new maps have been made! In 72% of our cases only the private farms had been registered already. The updating of the cadastres and registration of leases etc. is imminent though, according to the local administrations.

The Tax office collects the taxes. The tax for agricultural land is estimated by the valuer's office according to the quality of the soil.

The tax inspector is also responsible for controlling that the laws are followed. [FN 25]

Additionally there is the Agrohizmat, formerly called Agropromsoyuz and generally referred to as RAPO. RAPO employees agronomists and veterinarians who are supposed to give private farmers and collectives advice on farming techniques, crops and cattle-breeding. They also develop plans and control the observance of norms. Statistical data are collected by RAPO.

The Associations of Dehkhan farmers were founded by RAPO and the Hokhimiats apparently on demand of the farmers in order to advise them on the complicated bureaucratic and administrative procedures accompanying the founding of private farms. They are headed by members of the local administration nominated by the Hokhim.

Their tasks vary from district to district depending on how far the privatisation process has developed. They are supposed to a. advise the private farmers on farming questions, e.g. when and what should be planted; and b. to assist them in organising transport and marketing, e.g. procure the contracts with the canning factory, the grain mill or the cotton plant.

Service points are supposed to have been established by the kolkhozes to organise the rental of machines, tools, fertiliser and seed. They had not taken up activity in the places we visited, so the kolkhozes distributed these services themselves.

The list of institutions is not exhaustive. The actual significance and position of the Shirkat association, for example, as well as that of the Economic Council or the Commission for the Realisation of the Economic Reforms did not become clear. Some of their responsibilities overlapped. Neither could we establish the hierarchy of these institutions. Officially, and especially since the privatisation process has begun, the RAPO as well as the kolkhoz administration are supposed to be relatively independent from the Hokhim. However, in the cases observed the working of RAPO was directed by the Hokhim; the kolkhoz chairmen also took orders from the Hokhim in most places. There was rather close communication between each of these institutions as well as the bank and local industry and the Hokhims. Therefore the Hokhims had a position of overall control and absolut command. Apart from the kolkhozes which enjoy a relative amount of autonomy regarding decisions relating to their own matters, all other decisions had to be ratified by the Hokhim. Every measure taken in the past had also been sanctioned by the Hokhim and was presented as his initiative. [FN 26] These rhetorics of reference and reverence towards the Hokhim indicate the image of hierarchy which is supposed to be presented to and seen by the outside if not the real picture of centralised decision making.

Whether the central role of the Hokhim and his overall command are a matter of form and ritual, or whether he actually exercises them to the extend suggested, is a question of importance for the evaluation of Further research is needed to evaluate the real power structures within the local administrations.