Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at July 10th, 2008

Turkish Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroğlu said on Wednesday that since last year the Turkish private sector had submitted applications as part of the law on water use rights agreements to construct 1,461 hydroelectric power plants to produce 65 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy, which would take 50 years if the state was the sole investor. Upon completion these investments will generate an annual income of $58 billion for Turkey, the minister noted.

Speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony in Ankara for 61 hydroelectric power plants to be built by the State Waterworks Authority (DSİ) and private sector investors, Eroğlu expressed excitement at seeing such a big step toward saving Turkey’s energy future. “We will transfer the ownership of energy investments worth $25 billion from the central management budget to the private sector,” he said. “We needed at least 50-60 years to realize the production of 20,000 megawatts of energy. I’m guessing that those private companies who have applied for the construction of hydroelectric power plants can complete 80 percent of the projects in 4-5 years.” (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…)