Daewoo, Lada and Volga: cars as an economic and political indicator
Business and Economics, UzbekistanOne Comment
In the two largest cities, Tashkent and Samarkand, the cars are a mixture of modern Daewoo and Soviet era Lada and Volga. While in Bukhara, Urgench and smaller communities they are almost exclusively Daewoo, with the overall number of automobiles much lower in smaller communities. High end cars can be seen in Tashkent but are a rare exception.
Why is this? First, Uzbekistan produces Daewoo cars and vans in a plant close to Tashkent. Second, before the end of the Soviet Union there were few cars outside of the large cities so smaller cities went from almost nothing to Daewoo. Third, it appears than unlike many other CIS nations, Uzbekistan severely limits the import of cars. For example purchasing used cars in Europe and refurbishing them locally represents a significant number of what one sees on the roads of Kazakhstan.
The level of automobile ownership across the county is low, often those who purchase cars do so in order to run a personal taxi business.
A taxi driver from Urgench to Bukhara explained how he worked day and night in South Korea for two years to save the money in order to purchase his Daewoo Nexia. This from a 35-40 year old man university educated in Eastern Ukraine and a former member of an elite unit of the Red Army.
Overall, the limit on imported cars has boasted local car production (a Daewoo starts at around $7000). This type of economic policy is prevalent in the government controlled by President Karimov.
See similar entry related to Kazakhstan on July 20th 2006
RSS Feeds
Podcasts
[...] пост - перевод статьи Бена с английской версии блога neweurasia [...]