Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at October 31st, 2008

The U.S. government is seeking to provide financial support to energy projects in Turkey, senior officials from the Washington administration said.

“The U.S. is committed to the westward flow of the Caspian energy resources and recognizes Turkey plays a very important role in this regard… The U.S. government is ready to provide tangible support for the energy sector working in partnership with the Turkish government,” Jeffrey Kupfer, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, told a group of journalists on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Europe and Central Asia on Thursday.

Kupfer is leading a high-level American delegation including Robert Mosbacher, the president of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, John McAdams, COO of U.S. Export-Import Bank and Larry Walther, the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 15th, 2008

Gaz de France submitted the highest bid of $232 million in a tender for the privatisation of the İzmit gas distribution company (Izgaz).

Under the tender, the whole of the gas distribution firm in northwestern Turkey will be sold off in a block sale. In the open auction session broadcast live by CNBC-e, local Zorlu Enerji withdrew from the tender. The energy regulator EPDK and the competition board have to approve the tender before the distribution network is taken over by the private sector. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 17th, 2008

Verbund, Austria’s biggest utility, and Turkish partner Sabanı Holding are planning to expand in Turkey by building power plants and buying distribution grids. In order to accopmlish its plans the venture was granted a 1-billion-euro ($1.6 billion) loan by the World Bank’s International Finance Corp., Akbank and WestLB. “Our goal is to buy at least one more large distribution large company or two mid-sized ones,” Sabancı Chief Executive Officer Ahmet Dördüncü said in an interview Tuesday. “We currently have 3 million customers, and we want to raise that to at least 6 million people.” Enerjisa, co-owned by Sabancı and Verbund, bid $1.23 billion to win a state tender July 1 for the Turkish capital Ankara’s electricity distribution grid, which has 2.9 million customers. (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…)