Mirziyoyev_Sh

Yes. President Mirziyoyev and President Putin have actively advanced plans for constructing a nuclear power station (AES) in Uzbekistan, with Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom as the lead partner. The project is one of the most significant infrastructure agreements in Uzbekistan's modern history and is regularly featured on Mirziyoyev's official Instagram account as a flagship of Uzbekistan-Russia cooperation.

Yes, the account bio explicitly states in both Uzbek and Russian that it is maintained by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It functions as an official state communications channel, not a personal social media page, publishing coverage of presidential meetings, state visits, and policy announcements.

The account posts in both Uzbek and Russian, reflecting Uzbekistan's bilingual official communication tradition. Many captions carry parallel text in both languages within the same post, which is consistent with how the presidential press service addresses both domestic and Russian-speaking audiences.

The trip to Saint Petersburg was a formal working visit, described in the account as an 'amaliy tashrif,' aligned with the active bilateral agenda between Uzbekistan and Russia. It is part of Mirziyoyev's broader pattern of high-frequency diplomatic engagement with Moscow, which also includes discussions on the nuclear energy project and industrial cooperation agreements.

Mirziyoyev has publicly identified significant untapped potential in the sector, pushing Uzbekistan to diversify beyond its historical focus on mineral fertilizer production into a broader chemical industry. His Instagram features repeated visits to industrial facilities, calls for new investment, and announcements tied to plant development as part of this strategic push.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev became President of Uzbekistan in late 2016, following the death of long-serving leader Islam Karimov in September of that year. He had previously served as Prime Minister under Karimov and was elected president in a snap election held in December 2016.

Mirziyoyev succeeded Islam Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan from independence in 1991 until his death in 2016. Mirziyoyev's tenure has been broadly characterized by greater economic openness and international engagement compared to the more insular Karimov era.

The two presidents maintain an active and well-documented bilateral relationship centered on energy, industry, and strategic cooperation, with multiple in-person meetings held both in Uzbekistan and Russia. The nuclear power plant construction deal is the most prominent joint project, but agreements spanning culture, manufacturing, and trade also feature regularly in official coverage on Mirziyoyev's Instagram.

Mirziyoyev is widely credited with significantly opening Uzbekistan's economy after the more closed Karimov era, including currency liberalization, attracting foreign direct investment, and normalizing relations with Central Asian neighbors. He has also prioritized industrial development, including the chemical sector expansion and major energy infrastructure projects like the planned nuclear power station.

The @mirziyoyev_sh account has surpassed 6 million followers, placing it in the Mega tier and making it one of the larger government Instagram presences in Central Asia. The audience is predominantly male and internationally distributed, suggesting the account draws significant interest from diaspora communities and observers of Uzbekistan's foreign policy beyond the domestic population alone.