Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Jan. 23 / Trend D. Azizov /
Uzbekistan will buy 100 Mercedes-Benz buses totaling $18.9 million in 2012, a source in the Tashkent Administration told Trend today.
The project is to be financed through the Uzbek Reconstruction and Development Fund.
About 1,000 Mercedes-Benz buses are exploited in Tashkent. The buses were purchased through loans from German banks guaranteed by the Uzbek government.
In May last year, Uzavtoprom and Daimler AG signed an agreement establishing the joint venture Mercedes Benz Uzavtosanoat to assemble buses in Tashkent.
The authorized capital of the JV was announced in amount of $8 million. Shares of the founders of the joint venture are - Mercedes-Benz Buses Central Asia GmbH and AK Uzavtoprom - amount to 51 and 49 percent respectively.
The assembly of buses with a total project cost of $31 million will be organized on unused areas of the V. P. Chkalov Tashkent Aviation Production Association. It is assumed that at the initial phase, the capacity of the JV will be about 600 units of interurban passenger buses and small buses of class Euro-3 per year.
The project was approved by Uzbek President Islam Karimov's special decree in June 2010.