SOCAR speaks of possibility of buying Turkish assets of EWE AG

By Rashid Shirinov

SOCAR Turkey Enerji (the Turkish subsidiary of the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR) studies and evaluates new opportunities for investment within its activity, head of the company’s external relations department Murat LeCompte told Trend on August 9.

He was commenting on the information about SOCAR’s interest in the assets of the Turkish division of the German giant EWE AG – EWE Turkey Holding.

Turkish media have earlier reported that EWE AG is preparing to withdraw from the energy market of Turkey and to sell its stake in gas distribution networks Bursagaz AS and Kayserigaz AS. It was reported that the management of EWE Turkey Holding has already held a number of meetings with potential buyers.

The price of the German company’s share in the gas distribution enterprises in Bursa and Kayseri offered for sale is $200-250 million. EWE AG owns 80 percent of the shares of Bursagaz AS and Kayserigaz AS, and the remaining 10 percent is owned by Calik Enerji energy and the relevant municipalities.

“There were no specific meetings in this regard. In general, we are constantly studying and evaluating various investment opportunities within our activity. They must be in line with our activity and strategy,” LeCompte said.

He added that following the principle of “one nation – two states,” SOCAR Turkey Enerji will continue its activity and will invest in Azerbaijan and Turkey with the aim to improve the welfare of the two countries.

It is expected that SOCAR Turkey Enerji’s consolidated turnover will reach $15 billion in 2018, and the company will become the second largest industrial company in Turkey with 5,000 employees and $3 billion of export potential.

SOCAR Turkey Enerji aims to become the largest Turkish industrial company by 2023. The company also owns a controlling stake (51 percent) in the Petkim petrochemical complex on the Aliaga Peninsula.

Founded in 2008, SOCAR Turkey Enerji is one of the most well-established oil and natural gas companies of the world. With its total investment volume of $19.5 billion to be realized by 2020, SOCAR is the biggest foreign investor of Turkey. Similarly, SOCAR’s group companies in Turkey, namely Petkim, STAR Refinery, Petlim Container Terminal and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), represent the largest-scale investment Azerbaijan has made to a single country to date.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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