Fans of Coca-Cola in gas-rich Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat are complaining they can no longer "taste the feeling": their favourite drink has disappeared from shop shelves amidst a sharpening economic crisis.
"You used to be able to find it in every shop, but now only a few are selling it and the price has increased significantly," Mergen Kakayev, a 24-year-old taxi driver told AFP.
"People say it is unhealthy, but I have never noticed. For me a good meal is a piece of hot naan bread and a glass of cold Coca-Cola," said Kakayev, who got hooked on the drink ever since it first appeared in the secluded country in the 1990s.
Turkmenistan has imposed increasingly draconian restrictions on foreign currency exchange as global prices for hydrocarbons -- over 90 percent of the country's exports -- collapsed in 2014.
A spokeswoman for the drink's producer, Coca-Cola Icecek, which employs around 300 people in Ashgabat, told AFP by telephone it was "facing raw material supply shortages" due to "temporary hard currency conversion issues", but was not planning to leave the market.
GMT 13:29 2018 Friday ,14 December
Turkey targets military over alleged Gulen linksGMT 09:32 2018 Wednesday ,12 December
Huawei CFO gets bail; China detains ex-Canadian diplomatGMT 09:24 2018 Wednesday ,12 December
LuLu supports KFUPM Rectors Cup marathonGMT 09:12 2018 Wednesday ,12 December
Ford trains 1,600 motorists in Mideast, Africa in 2018GMT 09:00 2018 Wednesday ,12 December
May tours Europe in desperate bid to save Brexit dealGMT 08:26 2018 Wednesday ,12 December
Australian government discusses moving Israel embassy to JerusalemGMT 10:32 2018 Tuesday ,11 December
Trump’s troubled White House in search of new chief of staffGMT 10:03 2018 Monday ,10 December
23 Palestinians arrested in West BankMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor