Uzbekistan fire law sets victim payouts up to 660m sums

Uzbekistan will allow families of people killed in fires to seek up to 1.32 billion sums in compensation, while survivors with Group I disability can claim as much as 660 million sums. The amended fire-safety law takes effect on February 5, 2027.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the law on November 2. It amends the 2009 law “On Fire Safety,” improves oversight in the sector and introduces liability for unlawful interference with the work of state construction-supervision authorities.

What principles does the law set?

The measure identifies four core principles for fire-safety administration:

• Protection of citizens’ lives and health comes first.
• Fire prevention takes priority.
• Government data should remain open.
• Violations carry unavoidable responsibility.

Who must insure retail property?

The law places the mandatory insurance burden on owners of markets, shopping complexes and shopping-and-entertainment complexes. They must hold both fire insurance for the property and civil-liability insurance covering harm to third parties’ life and health in a fire.

Market operators and other retail owners therefore face two separate insurance requirements, rather than one policy covering both property damage and third-party injury. The Cabinet of Ministers will determine the terms and application procedure for both policies.

Owners of other properties may insure against fire voluntarily. By February 5, 2027, the Cabinet must also establish the procedure for mandatory fire insurance covering markets, shopping complexes and shopping-and-entertainment complexes. That rulemaking deadline falls on the same day as the law’s entry into force.

How will compensation work?

The law also sets out a procedure for recovering damage caused by breaches of fire-safety requirements. A person or entity found guilty must compensate the full amount of the damage.

For deaths and injuries, the order of payment matters. Compensation for harm to life and health must be recovered before fines and other financial sanctions imposed for fire-safety violations. The court can additionally order the guilty party to pay compensation to victims.

That sequence puts compensation for personal harm ahead of financial penalties in the collection process. It does not remove the possibility of sanctions; it fixes their timing behind payments to injured parties and the families of those killed.

A judgment can therefore combine full compensation for proven damage with the separate court-ordered payment for personal harm.

What are the maximum payouts?

The statute sets three payment ceilings:

• Families of people who died in a fire: up to 3,000 BRV, equivalent to 1.32 billion sums.
• People who sustain Group I disability: up to 1,500 BRV, or 660 million sums.
• Other injured people: up to 600 BRV, or 264 million sums.

These are maximum amounts for the three victim categories. A court determines whether a party is liable and may order compensation within the applicable limit.

What changes for retailers?

For owners of markets and shopping or entertainment complexes, the operational change is specific: mandatory cover must be in place once the law applies, and the government will have a defined procedure for both types of insurance.

The law also creates financial exposure for owners and other parties found responsible for fire-safety failures, because compensation for victims comes before sanctions and can accompany damages.

Owners of properties outside the mandatory categories do not face compulsory fire insurance under the measure, although they may purchase it. The damages procedure addresses harm caused by breaches of fire-safety rules.

Earlier reporting cited in the same account set compensation for families of victims of technogenic accidents at up to 220 million sums. The fire-specific law provides three separate ceilings, including 264 million sums for other injured people.

The deadline is fixed. The measure was signed on November 2, but it enters into force three months after publication, on February 5, 2027. The intervening period gives the Cabinet time to set insurance terms and the procedure required for mandatory fire insurance at markets and shopping-and-entertainment complexes.

Both the Cabinet’s procedure and the retail sector’s insurance obligations must therefore be ready by February 5, 2027.