APresident · 2016 –Independent states
Shavkat Mirziyoyev
Uzbekistan's second president (b. 1957), in office since 2016, whose tenure has brought broad reforms and an opening to neighbours.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev was governor of the Jizzakh and Samarkand regions and prime minister in 2003–2016. He became president after Karimov's death and was elected in December 2016.
Currency exchange was liberalised in 2017 and borders and ties with neighbours reopened. Uzbekistan joined the Turkic Council in 2019 and hosted the OTS summit in Samarkand in 2022; he was re-elected in 2021 and 2023.
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Updated: October 4, 2026