“Islam Karimov admitted that this was a very big mistake” — Askar Akayev on the opening of the automobile plant in Asaka

2 hours ago

The former President of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akayev, spoke about how the first President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, admitted that opening a car manufacturing plant in Andijan was a big mistake. He mentioned this in an interview with the ExclusiveKG channel on YouTube.

The conversation touched upon how the South Korean company Daewoo initially wanted to open its plant in Kyrgyzstan, but because local officials demanded bribes, they moved to Uzbekistan instead. Askar Akayev stated that there is some truth in these words, but some parts are false.

“I studied it thoroughly myself. In my opinion, neither Kyrgyzstan nor Uzbekistan needs such production. For example, after that [plant — ed.] started operating, I discussed this with Islam aka. When I asked, ‘Did you benefit from this?’, Islam aka said, ‘This was a very big mistake.’ The reason is that Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, and Uzbeks are not adapted to such enterprises. There, you have to work until you sweat for a low salary...”, the former President of Kyrgyzstan recalls.

At the same time, Akayev also emphasized that the Kyrgyz people cannot work in such manufacturing enterprises.

“We, the Kyrgyz, are a great nation, the nation that created ‘Manas’, and of course, the nation that created Chingiz Aitmatov. I am also Kyrgyz, but nevertheless, to tell the truth — we are a lazy nation. We hate working to the point of exhaustion. There is no need to be ashamed of this — this is a characteristic of nomadic peoples. Can you work 10 hours a day like a robot in such production facilities?! Would you want that? As president, I thought about how my Kyrgyz people would work there for ten hours. Then I came to the decision ‘no’. Not only the officials, but I personally was also against it,” Akayev says.

About Daewoo

Daewoo Corporation was a large South Korean industrial conglomerate and one of the largest corporations in the world. In 1992, an agreement was signed between the government of Uzbekistan and Daewoo to establish the UzDEUavto joint venture, and by March 1996, the plant was launched. From that year, Damas, Tico, and Nexia began to be produced at the plant in Asaka.

After the crisis of the early 2000s, the main assets of Daewoo Motor were acquired by General Motors. In 2005, Uzavtosanoat bought out Daewoo's share in the Uzbek enterprise, gaining full control over it. Following this, the government of Uzbekistan and GM Daewoo Auto & Technology concluded a strategic partnership agreement. In 2008, the enterprise was reorganized and named GM Uzbekistan, and the production of Chevrolet models was expanded.

In 2017, Uzavtosanoat bought the 49 percent stake belonging to General Motors. With this, the manufacturing enterprise again came under the full control of the Uzbek side. However, the alliance with GM regarding technology and the Chevrolet brand was maintained. Since July 1, 2019, GM Uzbekistan has been producing Chevrolet models under the name UzAutoMotors.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke about the activities of the General Motors car plant in Asaka during an open dialogue with entrepreneurs on August 20, 2021. At that time, the head of state noted that the car plant previously operated at a 35 percent loss, and 35-40 percent of the costs were covered by the state.

“It has never once produced its products with a profit. If there had been competition like now, and we had let the plant out into the wide ocean, the number of cars would have increased, and they would have been both cheaper and more competitive,” the president said.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed regret that despite all the opportunities, including tax incentives, created for this plant, it had never brought benefits to the people of Uzbekistan.

“We used to sell the cars we sent for export 30-40 percent cheaper than on the domestic market. We would get them across the border and boast that we were exporting. That was not export, it was a disaster,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

According to the president, now that a competitive environment has been formed, the plant will have to radically review its activities. “In 3-4 years, we won't even need the Andijan car plant. Why, because here in Tashkent region, in Namangan, plants are opening, and in Jizzakh we are opening 2-3 plants that no one could have imagined. Therefore, when we showed the Andijan plant, we only showed its picture, the building was beautiful. Its inside (meaning production — ed.), its economy was not acceptable,” the head of state said.

Currently, preparations for the sale of UzAutoMotors JSC have begun. This was reported to Daryo by Elmira Bekmurodova, press secretary of the State Assets Management Agency. It is noted that this is being carried out within the framework of the previously approved privatization program.

International consultants have been involved in this process. Currently, consultants from the Due Diligence company are continuing the work of collecting and preparing the necessary documents and materials.

After the relevant conclusions and proposals are submitted by the consultants, information on the start of the sale process will be officially announced. The process of selling the asset is planned to be carried out through international bidding, based on the principles of openness and transparency.

According to last year's presidential decree, the government planned to privatize UzAutoMotors (99.7 percent) and UzAutoMotors Powertrain (100 percent) at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026.