Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Some shares of the Petlim Limancılık Company may be put up for privatization as part of the construction of the Petkim container port in Turkey.

The news was announced by Trend Agency on February 4 with reference to the local Turkish media.

Head of SOCAR Turkey Enerji and board member of Petkim Petrokimya Holding Kenan Yavuz said the company has started consultations with Goldman Sachs concerning the sale of some shares of Petlim Limancılık A.Ş., the 100-percent owner of which is Petkim Petrokimya Holding.

"Some 25 percent of Petlim Limancılık's shares are expected to be put up for privatization," Yavuz said. "The sale of some shares is not connected with a lack of funds for the construction of the largest and deepest port in Turkey."

Head of SOCAR Turkey Enerji also said privatization will be an important event, demonstrating confidence in the company and the continued flow of investments into the country.

The construction of the container port is one of the projects being rapidly implemented in Turkey, and agreement on the construction of a new port was reached with Danish and Dutch companies.

The port will belong to Turkey, but Danish and Dutch companies will operate it for 30 years.

The first and second phases of the port's construction are expected be completed in 2015 and 2016, and the project will cost $400 million.

The initial capacity of the port will be 1.5 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), which will be increased to four million TEU in the future. Its capacity will exceed the capacity of Aslandzhak port by about 50 percent.

Petkim is co-owned by the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR and Dutch company APM Terminals, one of the world's leading port operators.

In February last year, Petkim signed an agreement on the construction of a container port with a 1.5 million TEU capacity.

Petkim will invest in the construction of the port and its infrastructure, while APM Terminals will invest in vehicles and equipment.

The construction of a new container port will contribute to the region's development and the port can receive containers with the length of 330 meters. The investment process is expected to be completed in 2014. The construction of the port is expected to be completed in 2015.