Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan’s State Assets Management Agency is preparing open tenders to privatize the state’s stakes in UzAuto Motors and UzAuto Motors Powertrain.
Alisher Miraliyev, Deputy Director of the agency, announced this on 17 September at the Cbonds International Conference, Spot reports.
According to Miraliyev, the companies will be sold through open tenders. The specific timing of the tenders was not provided in the report.
UzAuto Motors is the country’s largest national automobile manufacturer and is part of the Uzavtosanoat holding. The state owns 99.7% of the company, while another 0.3% was previously placed into free circulation on the Tashkent Stock Exchange.
UzAuto Motors was established in 1992 as a joint venture with South Korean conglomerate Daewoo. The company later began cooperation with US-based General Motors. In 2019, the Uzbek government bought out the stakes held by foreign partners, after which the company was renamed UzAuto Motors.
General Motors ceased to be a co-owner of the company but continued technological cooperation with the enterprise, including the supply of components and licenses.
The company’s state ownership was accompanied by benefits, state guarantees on loans, subsidies and preferences for production modernization.
The source material also contains critical assessments of the company’s activities, including claims that it produced outdated vehicles, maintained high prices and experienced declining sales after the automobile market was opened to foreign manufacturers. These assessments are not supported by additional data in the provided material.
The Chevrolet Suburban is mentioned in the material as one of the company’s latest products and is described as the most expensive vehicle in the company’s history.
Earlier, the President of Uzbekistan instructed government officials to switch to domestically produced vehicles.
