MAX in Uzbekistan

MAX in Uzbekistan

A meeting of MAX messenger representatives with journalists from Uzbekistan was held in Moscow. They discussed platform development, audience growth, new features, anti-fraud tools, and opportunities for business. MAX CEO Farit Khusnoyarov, MAX Product Director Evgeny Shirinkin, and Head of MAX Trust & Safety Maria Maltseva talked about the platform's development, audience in Uzbekistan, features, and approaches to data protection.

— What role does Uzbekistan play for MAX today?

— Uzbekistan is one of the key foreign markets for us. Today, MAX has 11.5 million foreign users, and Uzbekistan ranks first among all foreign countries. More than 4 million people use the messenger — approximately as many people as live in Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara combined. We see that communication between Uzbekistan and Russia is very intensive: around 12 million messages are sent and 1.3 million calls are made daily. These are large volumes, and we take them into account when developing the product.

— What steps have you taken for users from Uzbekistan?

— In August 2026, we added the Uzbek language to the interface. This is an important step because many families in Uzbekistan and Russia are bound by family ties, and we want communication to be comfortable in their native language.

— What capabilities does MAX offer users today?

— We have a rich functionality. This includes calls — we pay great attention to quality, especially for long-distance communication. We use NoLACE technology, which allows maintaining high connection quality even with weak internet. Users from Uzbekistan have created around 150 million chats. You can send media, audio messages, video messages, and files up to 4 GB. In the summer, we launched stories. Video notes are popular — they can be transcribed into text if there is no opportunity to listen. There are stickers, including animated ones. The MAX team prepared a sticker pack specifically for Uzbek users featuring our teddy bear mascot — it can be installed via the link.

— What topics are most popular in Uzbek channels?

— The top 3 topics in Uzbekistan are news, music and video, and cooking. This speaks to the diversity of the audience and great potential for content creators. We plan to take feedback from Uzbek users into account when developing channel functionality.

— How is user security ensured, especially in light of the growing audience in Uzbekistan?

— Security is our priority. One of the key mechanisms is trusted communication through adding to contacts. If a user is not in contacts, they can send an invitation link, and the recipient consciously decides whether to communicate or not. This reduces the risk of fraud and spam.

For additional customization, there is a safe mode: users can restrict who calls them, who invites them to chats, and what content they see. There is family protection — users can configure these settings for a child or elderly relatives.

We have also implemented a warning about suspicious links: an automated system checks links, and if it detects a threat, a warning appears. To protect the account, two-factor authentication is available — users can set a password that will be required upon a new login.

— What about unwanted contacts?

— We have a "Report" button and blocking after reviewing a message that received mass complaints. If a user receives an unwanted message or call, they can report it — a signal will go to our Security Center, and specialists will promptly check if there is fraudulent activity. In addition, we explicitly highlight that the caller or sender is not in the contacts. This helps people to be more attentive.

— Is it possible to create an official company page in MAX? Is there verification?

— We have the MAX for Business Platform, accessible via the website www.business.max.ru. There you can register an official business channel or a chatbot. This requires a Russian legal entity, which is verified through a bank ID or Gosuslugi. A verification checkmark, as in some social networks, does not yet exist for regular users or officials — only MAX's own projects are marked with it.

— Is there an opportunity to create a local analogue of the App Store for Uzbekistan to distribute the application?

— We have launched a partner open-source program. Legal entities, including foreign ones, can enter into an agreement with us, get the source code of the application, modify it, and launch their own version of MAX. This opens up opportunities for local solutions.

— Will MAX develop as an ecosystem with the integration of government services and business services, and is this planned for countries other than Russia?

— MAX is integrated with Russian government services — for example, Digital ID allows presenting documents in electronic form, confirming age, and benefit statuses. We have over half a million companies and organizations registered on the Platform for Business. But the main thing for a messenger is communication. People come for fast communication, and we integrate additional features very carefully so as not to disrupt this experience. As for other countries, we are open to cooperation, but for now the focus is on Russia and our key foreign audiences, primarily Uzbekistan.

— What priorities do you highlight for Uzbek users for the future?

— The main thing is convenience of communication. We will improve call quality, expand opportunities for business through the MAX for Business Platform (creating a Russian legal entity is also available to foreigners), and develop channels together with creators from Uzbekistan. And of course, we will continue working on the security and stability of the application.

Reference: The MAX messenger is owned by VK. The platform has 140 million users, 90 million of whom visit daily. MAX operates in 40 countries. In Uzbekistan, it has 4 million users, making the country the largest by audience among foreign states.