The U.S. Embassy in Tashkent has announced an open offline auction for its official vehicles. It will take place on September 21 at 9:00 AM in the embassy's outer parking lot.

The embassy emphasized that the vehicles on auction are not customs-cleared and are in temporary import status (IM-42).

"The winning bidder will be responsible for all import fees, duties, and registration costs. For instance, while a vehicle may start with a low auction price, the winning bid could be significantly higher (ex. a vehicle with a starting auction price of $100 could have a winning bid that is thousands of dollars).  Additionally, customs import fees and duties will be determined based on the import value recorded in the customs declaration at the time of entry into Uzbekistan. We estimate this value may range from $30,000 to $60,000.," the embassy said in its statement.

To avoid any surprises, people are advised to consult a customs broker (declarant) before participating in the auction to estimate the cost of customs clearance.