In Brief
Turkish markets retreat from record highs ISTANBUL – Turkish assets pulled back from the record-setting highs reached on Wednesday as the specter of political instability triggered profit-taking on lira and equities markets, analysts said, while bonds strengthened. Istanbul’s main stock index traded to an intra-day record high of 48,569.52 early in the session but then ran out of steam to close down 206.67 points, or 0.43 percent, at 47,826.05 points. The index marked a record close the previous day when it rose 2.16 percent to 48,032.72 points. Friday’s first round of voting in the presidential election was a factor in yesterday’s losses, said Murat Inceleme, portfolio manager at Ata Investment in Istanbul. Separately, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said Turkey will need to have an extra budget for the first quarter of next year if general elections are held as scheduled this November. «An extra budget will be necessary but we are making our preparations as if it would not be,» Unakitan told reporters. (Reuters) Enelco has best offer for Greek power plant Enelco, a joint venture led by Italy’s Enel, has presented the best offer for the construction of a power plant in Greece, the venture’s director Giovanni Maria Pisani said in Rome yesterday. The 430-megawatt natural-gas-fired plant will be the first privately run power station in Greece, breaking state-run Public Power Corp’s (PPC) monopoly and giving the country much-needed extra capacity. (Reuters) Bosnia aluminium Eight companies have expressed interest in buying an 88 percent stake in Bosnia’s aluminium smelter Aluminij Mostar, offered for sale for 76.8 million euros, officials said on Wednesday. The international tender for Bosnia’s largest exporter, published on March 5, closed on Monday, and the privatization agency of Bosnia’s Muslim-Croat Federation said the best offers would be short-listed for due diligence in the firm starting on May 7. Among the firms that sent non-binding offers are Swiss-based metal trader Glencore International AG, Aluminij’s long-time partner, and Greek metals, energy and engineering group Mytilineos, the agency said in a statement. (Reuters) Atlasjet buys Airbus Turkish airline Atlasjet is in talks with Airbus on buying 12 aircraft from 2008, the carrier’s chief executive said yesterday. «Talks with Airbus are continuing. This comes to about a $500 million investment. The purchases will begin in 2008,» CEO Tuncay Doganer told Reuters after a press conference. Atlasjet is targeting revenues of $380 million in 2007, after $340 million in sales last year, Doganer said. (Reuters) FYROM energy Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) has announced the addition of a (Former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia Energy Report to their offering. This report provides updated facts and figures on the evolution of the national energy market. For the oil, gas, coal and power markets, the report details the market organization, institutions regulating the market, and energy policy of the country.
