Officials in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand region who sent their own children and relatives abroad instead of talented pupils will reimburse public funds, following a high-profile nepotism scandal.

Earlier reports revealed that among those sent to St. Petersburg for Russia’s famous “Scarlet Sails” graduation celebration were the son and nephew of the head of the regional department for preschool and school education, as well as children of other officials. The revelations sparked widespread public outrage, The Caspian Post reports via Uzbek media.

Now, officials who arranged the trip will return 28 million soums ($2.287 million) to the local budget, Akmal Burkhanov, head of Uzbekistan’s Anti-Corruption Agency, said.

Burkhanov said violations of the law were confirmed during an initial review. He explained that the Russian side had sent an invitation to the regional administration, which was then forwarded to the Samarkand regional education department. Ultimately, eight pupils and two teachers were selected for the trip.

However, investigators found that two of the participants were close relatives of the department’s head - his son and nephew. Two others were children of the department’s accountant and methodologist, while another was the son of a close acquaintance of the department chief.

A total of 95 million soums ($7.759 million) was allocated from the local budget to cover the trip. As a result of the investigation, 28 million soums were recovered from the parents of three children and returned to the budget, Burkhanov said.

The Anti-Corruption Agency has also submitted a formal recommendation to the leadership of the Ministry of Preschool and School Education, stating that the incident violated civil service ethics rules. Authorities have called for strict disciplinary measures against those responsible.

Burkhanov added that a repeat inspection will be carried out, and any additional financial damage identified will also be reimbursed. He stressed that officials involved in favoritism could face severe penalties, including dismissal, with a response required within 10 days.