Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Tajikistan increased imports of vehicles by 15.1 percent, while reducing its exports by 33.99 percent last year, according to the Statistics Agency of the country.

Tajikistan’s imports of vehicles increased by $28.3 million in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2016.

The total amount of imports of motor vehicles in 2017 amounted to more than $216.3 million. In 2016, this figure stood at the level of $187.9 million.

Despite the increase in motor transport imports last year, car dealers argue that demand in the domestic market was weak.

The growth of imports is most likely due to the import of heavy trucks for the implementation of investment projects.

Tajikistan mostly imports used vehicles, and, accordingly, the prices for them are much lower than for the new ones.

Motor vehicles, mainly passenger cars, are imported from the Baltic States and Europe. In the market of heavy-duty vehicles the leading place is occupied by Chinese manufacturers.

At the end of January 2017, the Government of Tajikistan adopted a resolution banning the importation of vehicles produced before 2005. As previously reported, this ban entered into force on February 15.

The ban on the importation of old cars into the country was introduced for reasons of environmental safety.

The Customs Service under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country was instructed to “ensure control, customs clearance and registration of imported vehicles in accordance with this decree.”

Meanwhile, in 2017, customs duties on the import of new cars in Tajikistan were reduced by 50 percent.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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