Otabek Bakirov is one of Uzbekistan’s most frequently quoted independent economists. He graduated from the Tashkent Financial Institute in 2002 and later worked in the banking sector; today he describes himself as a financier and public activist.
He is best known for his Telegram channel “Bakiroo”, where he publishes critical analysis of the state budget, currency policy, the banking sector, energy tariffs, customs rules and the performance of state-owned enterprises. Gazeta.uz, Kun.uz, Spot and other outlets regularly turn to him for comment. In April 2025 he was elected to the supervisory board of Infinbank.
His outspokenness has made him the subject of several official complaints: in December 2024 Energy Minister Jo‘rabek Mirzamahmudov asked law-enforcement bodies to assess his posts (police declined to open a criminal case); in April 2025 the National Agency for Prospective Projects filed a complaint; and in April–May 2026 an administrative case triggered by a new complaint from the minister was dismissed by a Tashkent court because the limitation period had expired. The episodes fuelled public debate about free speech and “false information” rules.
A resident since Lolazor’s very first episode, he anchors most of the podcast’s economics and energy discussions. He is also a noted reader: in Gazeta.uz’s “What should we read?” series he recommended Cho‘lpon, Murod Muhammad Do‘st’s novel “Lolazor”, Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn and Taleb.
