Accessibility links

Breaking News

Uzbek Shops Rationing Coca-Cola Amid Shortage


Many shops in Uzbekistan have begun rationing Coca-Cola amid a shortage of the beverage and unseasonably hot temperatures.

Many local shops in Tashkent were refusing to sell more than a single, one-liter bottle of Coca-Cola to each customer. Some shops had stopped selling the drink altogether.

A manager at Coca-Cola's Ichimligi Uzbekiston Company told RFE/RL that the bottling of Coca-Cola had been suspended as the firm's production lines have been undergoing reconstruction for about a month.

Retailers in Tashkent say the Coca-Cola producer has started asking a price that is nearly 60 percent higher than before the reconstruction began.

Some complained that Coca-Cola's Uzbekistan branch was forcing retailers to also buy Bonaqua mineral water and bottled ice tea in order to receive deliveries of Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola has been produced in Uzbekistan since 1993.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG