Rustam Rasulovich Inoyatov (russian: Рустам Расулович Иноятов, born 22 June 1944) is a former Uzbek

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

official, as well as a

colonel general Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

. He was head of the National Security Service of

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

(SNB) from 1995 until his dismissal in January 2018. He was said to have been part of the Tashkent clan, a powerful faction within the Uzbek elite. He was said to be one of the most powerful men in the country.

Biography

Rustam Rasulovich Inoyatov was born in the city of Sherabad, Surkhandarya region. His father – Rasul Inoyatov, KGB colonel. From

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establ ...

he worked as a concrete worker in the Tashkent Building Trust, at the same time he studied at the university. In 1968 he graduated from the Faculty of Iranian Philology of the Tashkent State University. After graduation, he served in the ranks of the Soviet army. During military service, he was accepted into the service of the KGB of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

. Worked in various officer positions in the KGB of the

Uzbek SSR Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English language, English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, ...

, in The First Chief Directorate of the KGB. In 1976-1981, he was a case officer in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

under diplomatic cover. Since June 27, 1995 – Chairman of the National Security Service of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Previously, he serve
as First Deputy Chairman
Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated June 17, 1994 No. УП-874 "On awarding R. Inoyatov with a Certificate of Honor of the Republic of Uzbekistan" of the Department. In 1996 he was awarded the rank of "lieutenant general", in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

– "colonel general". From 1999 to 2020, Inoyatov was the President of the Tennis Federation of Uzbekistan. On January 31, 2018, Rustam Inoyatov was relieved of the post of Chairman of the National Security Service of the Republic of Uzbekistan and appointed to the position of State Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. November 15, 2021 he was relieved of this position. Rustam Inoyatov is considered one of the most influential people in Uzbekistan — the "demiurge" of Uzbek politics.

Rise to power

In 1995, the President of Uzbekistan,

Islam Karimov Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov ( uz, Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov / Ислом Абдуғаниевич Каримов, italics=no; russian: link=no, Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов; 30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was t ...

, gave him the position of chief of the SNB as a counter weight to his rival's power,

Zokir Almatov Zokir Almatov (born 10 October 1949 in Zangiata, Tashkent Region, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union), sometimes romanized Zakir, was an Uzbek politician who was the interior minister of Uzbekistan until 2005. In 1967 he graduated from high school and immed ...

, the

Minister of Internal Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government ...

. Under Inoyatov's leadership, the SNB rose to power over the rival

MVD The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia. The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...

of Almatov. By 1999, they had more power and funding than the MVD. He is widely thought to be the kingmaker when

died. Inoyatov was dismissed by

Shavkat Mirziyoyev Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev ( Uzbek Latin: ''Shavkat Miromonovich (Miromon o‘g‘li) Mirziyoyev'', Uzbek Cyrillic: Шавкат Миромонович (Миромон ўғли) Мирзиёев ; born 24 July 1957) is an Uzbek politician ...

on January 31, 2018. On November 15, 2021, he was relieved of his post as State Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inoyatov, Rustam Living people 1944 births Uzbekistani politicians KGB officers Uzbekistani military personnel