Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at July 18th, 2008

The number of the companies and consortiums seeking to take part in Turkey’s first nuclear power plant project has increased to eight, with the Chinese Nuclear Power Components Co. and Dutch Unit Investment N.V. purchasing bid specifications.

Turkish Electricity Trading and Contracting Company (TETAŞ) had initiated a tender for the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant in the Akkuyu district of Mersin province in March. TETAŞ General Manager Hacı Duran Gökkaya said on Thursday he was expecting interest in the project to grow in the coming months. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 9th, 2008

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Güler has pledged that there will be no postponements in the scheduled tenders for energy generation projects, particularly in the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.

The government is aiming to conclude tenders for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants in the provinces of Akkuyu and Sinop by the end of 2008. However, there had been some question as to whether the tenders would be rescheduled to dates in 2009. In response to these questions, the minister noted, “All energy privatizations will be held on the previously announced dates.” (more…)

Posted by meb at July 5th, 2008

The city of İzmit, 110 kilometers southeast of Istanbul, will hold an auction for its natural-gas distribution network on Aug. 14, a month later than originally planned.

Potential buyers must reveal technical details on bids for İzmit Dogalgaz Dağıtım, or İZGAZ, by Aug. 7 and make initial offers by the day of the auction, the municipality said in an advertisement published in Turkish newspapers Friday.

İzgaz had originally set a bid deadline of July 17. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 2nd, 2008

Turkey’s first auction of power grids lured two foreign utilities, compared with at least eight that planned to participate in 2006, as a legal challenge to oust the prime minister and an electricity-price cap deter bidders.

When Turkey announced the auction of power lines that serve Ankara and the industrial Sakarya region near Istanbul two years ago, more than 30 Turkish and foreign companies sought details, among them E.ON, Germany’s biggest utility, and Italy’s Enel. Now, Austria’s Verbund and Prague-based CEZ are the only international companies remaining among the five bidders for each grid, according to the state asset-sales agency. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 2nd, 2008

Open bidding held during the final bargaining hours for the privatization of the Başkent Electricity Distribution Corporation (Başkent EDAŞ) via the bloc sale method saw the highest bid ($1.225 billion) offered by the joint venture of Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding A.Ş., Österreichische Elektrizitatswirtschafts, Aktiengesellschaft (Verbund) and Enerjisa Energy Production Corporation.
The open bidding was held at the headquarters of the Privatization Administration (ÖİB) where ÖİB Deputy President Ahmet Aksu acted as the head of the tender commission. Following the bid given by the Sabancı-led consortium, Hema Corporation requested a break after which it decided to withdraw from the tender. The representative of the Akcez Joint Venture Group, which asked for a break in the first round, stated that they, too, were withdrawing. Thus, the first privatization tender in the electricity distribution field was technically completed. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 1st, 2008

Although more than 30 Turkish and foreign companies sought details when Turkey announced the auction of power lines that serve capital Ankara and the Sakarya region two years ago, the Privatization Administration (OIB) has received 10 bids for the two grids, that will be auctioned on Tuesday, fewer than expected as the uncertainty and rising political turmoil in Turkey.

Among those to bid are Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holding, which bid for both grids in partnership with Austria’s Verbund, Profile, and another local firm, Akenerji, which bid for both with Czech power firm CEZ. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 30th, 2008

The privatization processes for the Turkish national lottery (Milli Piyango), the country’s highways and sugar processing plants are expected to begin in July, however Halkbank’s privatization has been suspended, says the head of the Privatization Administration (ÖİB).

ÖİB President Metin Kilci, in an interview with Anka news agency, said the ÖİB was waiting for the relevant bills to pass in Parliament for the launch of the privatization processes for Milli Piyango and highways.

Milli Piyango’s privatization — a process long seen as stagnant after deferral due to early elections and a subsequent presidential vote last year — was postponed from May until June. The bill enacted to open tenders for the privatization of Milli Piyango was recently approved by a parliamentary subcommittee, while the bill on highway privatization is still pending in Parliament. Kilci stated the privatization processes for Milli Piyango and highways would be launched one week after the relevant bills are published in the Official Gazette. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 27th, 2008

Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources minister announced on Thursday that Turkey is planning to construct its second nuclear power plant in the Black Sea city of Sinop

Hilmi Güler told reporters the tender for the construction of the power plant would likely be held in September. “The dimensions of the second nuclear power plant have not yet been determined, but it will not be smaller than the one to be town of Akkuyu,” Güler explained. (more…)