Coca-Cola Bottlers Uzbekistan

Coca-Cola Bottlers Uzbekistan (Uzbek: Coca-Cola Ichimligi Uzbekiston Ltd.) is a joint venture between the Uzbek state and the Coca-Cola Company established in 1993. The company is headquartered in Tashkent and has four production facilities: two in Tashkent, one in Namangan, and one in Urgench.[1] In 2019, the company controlled nearly half of Uzbekistan's market for soft drinks and generated revenue of UZS 1.4 trillion.[2] The Uzbek state currently owns 57.1 percent of the joint venture, with the Coca-Cola Company owning the remainder.[3]

History

Coca-Cola Bottlers Uzbekistan began production in March 1994 with an initial production target of 2.2 million gallons a year.[4] The shareholders were Roz Trading Ltd., an entity controlled by Afghan-American businessman Mansur Maqsudi, the Coca-Cola Company (via The Coca-Cola Export Corporation), and Uzpishprom, an Uzbek state enterprise.[5] In May 1996, the company opened its second bottling plant in the Kirbay district on the outskirts of Tashkent.[1] In February 1997 a second plant was opened in Namangan in order to serve the populous Fergana Valley.[1] In June 1997, the company's fourth plant opened in Urgench in the far west of Uzbekistan.[1]

In 2001, the Uzbek government launched an investigation into Roz Trading over alleged financial impropriety.[6] Soon after, Roz Trading's shares in Coca-Cola Bottlers Uzbekistan were taken over by the Uzbek state. In June 2006, Maqsudi filed a claim against the Coca-Cola Company for allegedly conspiring with Uzbek government to strip Roz Trading of its majority share in the bottling company.[7]

Privatization Plan

In March 2019, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree aimed at improving the attractiveness of Uzbekistan for foreign investors.[8] This decree mandated the privatization of 64 of the country's largest state-owned enterprises, including Coca-Cola Bottlers Uzbekistan.[9][10] In March 2020, the Coca-Cola Company announced it would invest $31 million in its Uzbek joint venture to upgrade the bottling plants.[11] In December 2020, the Uzbek government announced that it had retained Rothschild & Co to manage the sale of a portion of the state's shares in the joint venture.[12]