Russian automaker UAZ, part of Ford Sollers, will begin assembly of its SUVs and LCVs in Kazakhstan in the second quarter of 2018, the company announced.

Assembly will be carried out in collaboration with Asia Auto at plants in Ust-Kamenogorsk and Kokshetau.

UAZ would not disclose the investment level in the project.

Local assembly will make UAZ vehicles exempt from duties imposed on imported cars and eligible for state support.

"Our partners in Kazakhstan will be primarily focused on the best known models, which have long been enjoying sustainable demand on the market," Andrei Dorofeyev, UAZ export director, was quoted as saying by Vedomosti.

"But I am sure that the second stage of Kazakhstan assembly will include our new truck UAZ Profi and UAZ Pickup," he added.

Kazakhstan has traditionally been a major export market for UAZ. In 2018, the automaker expects to sell 2,500 vehicles, including locally assembled and imported units.

Although Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasia Economic Union (EEU), new vehicles brought into the country are still subject to a utilisation duty, while those assembled locally are exempt from VAT.

Meanwhile, UAZ is currently working on an assembly project in Egypt.

In September, Sollers said it expected "a very modest" growth of 5-6% y/y in sales for UAZ this year.

The projected figure would translate into 51,000 units, compared with 48,800 units last year.

In 2016, UAZ's market share in Russia grew from 3% to 3.4%, but the company's export sales declined to 3,467 units from 4,900 units in 2015.