Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 15
By Ilkin Shafiyev – Trend:
The situation around the Turkish lira, which has fallen by 20 percent against the US dollar since the end of last week, will have a positive impact on the return on assets of the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR in Turkey, a high-ranking source in SOCAR told Trend Aug. 15.
"There are no serious changes in the economic situation in Turkey now. It is completely stable. Accordingly, the assets that are now in Turkey are stable and work for the Turkish market. That is, there is no talk about serious impact of the situation on SOCAR's activities in Turkey. On the contrary, I would note that the market is experiencing a revival, because due to the fall of the lira rate investors tend to buy and invest in Turkey," the source said.
Since the beginning of the year, the Turkish lira fell against the US dollar by about 35 percent. On August 10, the lira updated another historic record and finished the day at 6.41 lira per US dollar, losing more than 20 percent of its cost over the day.
SOCAR is represented in Turkey by its subsidiary company SOCAR Turkey Enerji. 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 the country with 5,000 employees and $3 billion of export potential. It aims to become the largest Turkish industrial company by 2023. The company, also acting as the owner of STAR refinery, owns a controlling stake (51 percent) in the authorized capital of the petrochemical complex Petkim, situated on the Aliaga Peninsula.
Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which is a part of the large-scale energy project titled Southern Gas Corridor and implemented by Azerbaijan, passes through territory of Turkey. The share distribution in TANAP is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor CJSC - 51 percent, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 percent, Botas - 30 percent, and BP - 12 percent.
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