PETKIM HANDOVER TO AZERIS TO BE COMPLETED BY MAY 7
Today’s Zaman
March 28 2008
Turkey
The transfer of 51 percent of Turkey’s largest petrochemicals
producer Petkim to Azeri consortium SOCAR-Turcas-Injaz is expected
to be completed by May 7.
Erdal Aksoy, the chairman of Turcas, one of the companies in the
consortium, said alternatives for the payment in the Petkim sale
were being evaluated and that a final decision on payment would be
announced before April 14.
Referring to the numerous lawsuits that were filed during the
privatization process, Aksoy told the Anatolia news agency that he was
not worried about the handover and that grievances should be addressed
to the Privatization Administration (OÝB). The Petroleum, Chemicals
and Rubber Workers Union (Petrol-Ýþ) had previously appealed several
times to the Council of State against the privatization of Petkim and
its sale to the SOCAR-Turcas-Injaz consortium. The Council of State
rejected these appeals, with the latest rejection coming as recently
as last Tuesday.
Aksoy emphasized that Petkim would contribute positively to the
Turkish economy after the handover and added that it also plays an
important role in Turkish industrial exports.
According to Aksoy, projections and plans for Petkim will be shared
with employees, unions and other affected parties. "But for now we
[Turcas] have not been authorized to talk about them," he said,
adding that they would inform the public after the handover.
Aksoy had previously said their investment program for Petkim
forecasts $10 billion in investments within seven to eight years and
the construction of two power plants in addition to an upgrade of the
main facility. He had also said Petkim would get a 40 percent share
in the domestic market.
Azerbaijan’s SOCAR-Turcas-Injaz consortium submitted the second
best bid in the tender, held on July 5, for the block sale of a 51
percent state-owned stake in Petkim. Kazakhstan’s TransCentralAsia
Petrochemical Holding consortium had outbid all of its five rivals
by offering to pay $2.05 billion. The Azeri consortium withdrew from
open bidding after announcing its final offer of $2.04 billion. After
the tender, the Kazakh consortium was accused of being supported by
the Armenian diaspora, and a commission overseeing the privatization
of Turkey’s petrochemicals monopoly Petkim decided to exclude the bid
submitted by it, accepting the offer from the Azeri consortium instead.
–Boundary_(ID_MDYn+Xe74meIN1G5uPPosw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
