Yandex Go Outage Boosts Rival Taxi Services in Uzbekistan

The ripple effects of this month's Yandex Go outage are still being felt across Uzbekistan's taxi market. Rival ride-hailing services have reported a surge in bookings, while a senior government official has raised the prospect of further competition, revealing that a Chinese company plans to launch its own taxi app with a fleet of 5,000 vehicles. Uzbekistan's First Deputy Minister of Transport Mamanbiy Omarov disclosed the unnamed investor's plans in an October 16 interview with Spot, although further details were scant. On October 11, Yandex Go users in Uzbekistan experienced disruptions when trying to book rides. The app also operated intermittently in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The outages coincided with a series of drone strikes targeting Yandex data centers in Russia. Between October 8 and 11, attacks affected company facilities in the Ryazan and Kaluga regions, followed by a strike in Vladimir. Server disruptions also hit delivery and other digital services used by people across Central Asia. Yandex Go accounted for approximately 85% of receipts issued through taxi aggregators in Uzbekistan in 2024, according to figures from the country's Tax Committee. Between October 11 and 13, orders through Uklon rose to two to three times normal levels, while MyTaxi, which operates only in Tashkent, reported 15 times its usual volume, according to Spot. MyTaxi said its own servers are located in Uzbekistan and outlined plans to retain the new passengers attracted during the disruption. It remains unknown where the Chinese operator's servers will be located or which companies will provide its technical infrastructure. These details would help establish how dependent the service might be on infrastructure outside Uzbekistan. Chinese automakers already operate in Uzbekistan, while companies from China are involved in developing the country's transport infrastructure. The proposed fleet could give the new operator a significant presence, particularly if it concentrates on Tashkent. However, Chinese companies have not always succeeded in challenging Yandex's position in Central Asia. Ride-hailing giant DiDi entered neighboring Kazakhstan in 2021 but withdrew in March 2022, less than a year after launching. The company cited changing market conditions and other challenges, although it did not explain its decision in detail.