Of all the countries that made up the old Soviet Union, the central Asian republics have proved the slowest to open up to the outside world. For the personal care product industry this represents opportunities, but also significant hurdles and barriers.
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan straddle a belt of central Asia and all, to varying degrees, remain covered in permafrost when it comes to political, democratic, economic and financial development. They are also all, to a greater or lesser extent, home to significant natural resources, from fossil fuels to uranium and rare earth metals, which should result in societies with reasonable disposable incomes.
However, the extent to which their populations see the fruits of these reserves regarding consumer products and spending is questionable. This results in a minority of the population having substantial disposable income and the ability to purchase luxurious high end, premium personal care product brands (invariably Russian or multinational); and a majority of the population that seeks out value brands, which are also usually imported.
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