Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 5 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
SOCAR's investments in petrochemical complex Petkim will hit $9 billion taking into account the increase in its share, head of SOCAR Turkey Energy and board member of the Petkim petrochemical complex Kenan Yavuz said at a ceremony of announcing tax benefits for Star oil refinery.
"SOCAR plans to increase the annual turnover of Petkim complex to $ 15 billion, and export volume to $5 billion," he said. The complex will provide up to 5,000 people with jobs."
Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, who also took part in the ceremony, said that after the Star refinery is commissioned, Turkey's dependence on foreign supplies of oil products will sharply decline.
"Today's imports of diesel fuel cost Turkey $ 8.5 billion a year," Caglayan said. "But after Star refinery is commissioned, fuel imports will be reduced to $ 1.5 billion."
The total capacity of the refinery is 10 million tons and oil products produced at the plant will be designed to meet the needs of the Petkim chemical company and Turkey's domestic market.
Up to $6 million will be directed for the construction of a new refinery in Turkey - STAR. This will be financed partly through shareholders (30 per cent), which is about $1.8 billion and the rest through bank loans, SOCAR senior representative said earlier.
Annual production of naphtha which is used as the primary Petkim raw material will be 1.66 million tons in STAR. Currently, more than 80 per cent of the needs of Petkim in naphtha are met through imports whose dependence will be reduced to zero after the opening of the new refinery.