Used Vehicle Import Information | Kyrgyzstan

Shipping

The best route for shipping into Kyrgyzstan is through China by container.

Pre-shipping requirements

Cars and vehicles into Kyrgyzstan do not require anything apart from the standard documentation required for exporting out of Japan (export certificate). Provide Cars arranges this.

Import Limitations

The legislative side of automobile imports has some loopholes, which prevent legal entities from
operating normally. Legal entities, which import cars, have to pay up to 40% of the car’s value in taxes and duties when importing a car, while an individual pays a smaller fee, which depends on the engine volume. That is why legal entities cannot compete with individuals legally. Normally companies will order cars from abroad on the names of their employees, and not on the company name.

The government has attempted to pass some laws prohibiting the import or use of right-hand drive cars on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, but none had taken any force so far.

At the beginning of the year (2009), customs duties on imported cars were increased in Kyrgyzstan. As a result, a used imported car with a market value of US$2,000 now will cost a buyer $2,500 more, for a total expenditure of $4,500. The customs duty on the same car before the end of the year was $360. The amount of new customs duties over the old will be based on year of manufacture and engine capacity of vehicles. The highest rates of duty will be charged on cars manufactured before 1997, which may be as much as five or six times higher than the rates on newer ones.

Cars are not manufactured in Kyrgyzstan, so all cars are used vehicles imported from Germany, South Korea, Japan and the U.S. The transport and sale of used vehicles therefore became very lucrative for small and mid-sized businesses. Recently, however, there has been a sharp decrease in auto sales. An importer of cars from Germany said that after the New Year the most popular middle class car, the 1997 Volkswagen Golf-3, which before Jan. 1 cost $3,000, now costs $1,500 more. He laments that as a result he has already lost many potential buyers.

According to State Customs Committee Chairman Nurlan Akmatov the government is regulating, not prohibiting, the importation of automobiles. According to Customs Committee information, half of the imported vehicles in recent years were manufactured in the 1990s, and their technical condition is a threat both to the environment and to citizens.

The country’s Main Traffic Safety Administration is also lobbying to prohibit the importation of cars with steering wheels on the right. According to Administration head Bolotbek Borbiyev that request was initiated by traffic regulators who said accidents involving cars with right-side steering wheels are more severe than those with steering wheels on the left.