For nearly a decade, Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Uzbekistan was a shining example of the successful strategy that has seen the company expand into more than 200 countries around the world.

The plant on the outskirts of the capital Tashkent, set up in 1992 and run under a joint venture with ties to the family of Islam Karimov, the Uzbek strongman, was twice selected as Coke's "bottler of the year" in its Eurasia and Middle East region and was highly profitable, with volume growth of about 10 per cent annually.