Originally established in Yerevan, Armenia, YerAZ was a prominent automobile manufacturer known for producing the van RAF-977K (as ErAZ-762) from 1966 to 1996. Plans for YerAZ were initiated on December 31, 1964, by the Council of Ministers of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The original staff was trained at the Riga Autobus Factory in Latvia and UAZ in Russia.
YerAZ was privatized in 1995 and declared bankruptcy in 2002. The company developed an improved ErAZ-762A starting in 1969. Production peaked at 6,500 vehicles annually by 1973 and reached 12,000 in 1975, thanks to the installation of a genuine assembly line—one of the first in the Soviet Union.