51% stake in Petkim to Azeri consortium to be transferred by May 7

28-Mar-08

51% stake in Petkim (Turkey's largest petrochemicals producer) to Azeri consortium SOCAR-Turcas-Injaz is expected to be completed by May 7. Evaluation of the alternatives for payment is underway, with April 14 defined as the deadline on which a final decision on payment would be announced. The Petroleum, Chemicals and Rubber Workers Union (Petrol-??) has appealed against the privatization of Petkim and its sale to the SOCAR-Turcas-Injaz consortium to the Council of State numerous times. All these appeals have been rejected by the Council of State, including the latest one as recently as last Tuesday. Azerbaijan's SOCAR-Turcas-Injaz consortium submitted the second best bid in the tender for the block sale of a 51% state-owned stake in Petkim. Kazakhstan's TransCentralAsia Petrochemical Holding consortium submitted the highest bid among all six bidders of US$2.05 bln. After a final offer of US$2.04 bln, the the Azeri consortium withdrew from open bidding. When the Kazakh consortium was accused of being supported by the Armenian diaspora, the commission supervising the privatization process accepted the offer from the Azeri consortium after deciding to exclude the bid submitted by the Kazakh consortium.