Bahriddin Ruziyev

Bahriddin Ruziyev died on 11 November 2026 at the age of 76. His death was announced on 12 November 2026 by the Presidential press service of Uzbekistan and reported by outlets including Gazeta.uz, Kun.uz, Zamin.uz, Zamon.uz and Sputnik Uzbekistan.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed condolences in a message also signed by Tanzila Narbayeva, Nuriddin Ismoilov, Abdulla Aripov and Sodiq Turdiyev. It said the memory of Bahriddin Ruziyev, a prominent state and public figure, a sincere and modest person and a caring mentor of young people, would remain in their hearts forever.

The place and cause of his death have not been made public, and no funeral details had been published at the time of writing.

Bahriddin Murtazayevich Ruziyev was born on 23 August 1950 in the Chirakchi district of the Kashkadarya region of what was then the Uzbek SSR, according to the official biography released by the Presidential press service of Uzbekistan. Some Russian-language reference sources give his birth year as 1949 and his birthplace as the village of Chiya in the Karshi district.

After leaving secondary school he started work as a car mechanic at the road construction association of the Karmana district in the Navoi area. While continuing to work, he studied mechanical engineering at the Tashkent Polytechnic Institute, and he later studied at the Academy of Social Sciences in Moscow.

Ruziyev spent most of his working life in the Navoi region. He held responsible posts in youth organisations and in several branches of regional administration, including the regional Komsomol, and worked in the Navoi city party committee.

In the first years after Uzbek independence he headed the Navoi regional gasification department and the regional utilities management department, and served as hokim of the Konimex district.

In 2002 he was appointed hokim of the Navoi region, and he held the post until December 2008. His tenure focused on the region's social and economic development, expanding industry and manufacturing, attracting investment, developing the farming movement, increasing exports and protecting vulnerable residents. He took a leading part in organising the Navoi Free Industrial Economic Zone and in building an international logistics centre at Navoi International Airport, two projects that became central to the region's later growth.

In retirement he was a member of the veterans' organisation and took part in public life, advising on the development of various sectors and helping to train young specialists.

Ruziyev kept his private life out of public view. The condolence message issued on his death described him as a sincere and modest man and a caring mentor to the young people he worked with, and extended sympathy to his family and loved ones. Details of his family have not been published in the reports of his death.

Ruziyev is remembered as one of the officials who shaped the modern Navoi region. The Navoi Free Industrial Economic Zone, which he helped to establish during his governorship, and the international logistics centre at Navoi International Airport were both singled out in the official tributes as lasting contributions to the region and to the country's development. Colleagues and the condolence message also recalled his work with young people and his role as a mentor in later life.