SOCAR: Increasing share in SOCAR&Turcas is necessary for further business development

Azerbaijan , Baku, July 7 /Trend/

Increasing the share of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) in the joint venture of SOCAR&Turcas (which operates the largest Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim) is necessary for future business development, a senior official of SOCAR told Trend .

He said the transaction's amount is acceptable for SOCAR.

SOCAR has already reached an agreement with another shareholder SOCAR&Turcas - Aksoy Holding to acquire shares that will eventually lead to an increase in SOCAR's equity from 51 to almost 75 percent.

As noted in Petkim, obtaining permission from the state regulator of the energy market of Turkey (EPDK) to conclude the deal requires one month.

A relevant agreement between SOCAR and Aksoy Holding, which owns 23.98 percent equity, has been already achieved. "The deal will be carried out after obtaining a permission from EPDK," the company said.

The operation will not lead to a change of control within SOCAR & Turcas Enerji, Petkim said.

The shared distribution in SOCAR & Turca s JV:

The alliance between SOCAR and Turcas Petrol /Injaz Projects won a tender in 2008 to buy a 51percent stake in chemical projects, offering$2.04 billion.Now Turkey imports 70-75 percent of its demanded chemical products. Investments in the development of Petkim will reduce imports by 30 percent.

The Petkim Petrokimya Holding manufacturesplastic packaging, fabric, PVC and detergents. It
is the only Turkish producer of such products andexports a quarter of the production.