Turkey plans to invite bids for roads, national lottery by June
ANKARA (Bloomberg) – The head of Turkey’s state asset sales agency, Metin Kilci, aims to invite bids for the national lottery and a network of bridges and roads at the end of this month or early in June. Parliament will probably debate and approve the legislation required for the sales in the next two weeks, Kilci said in an interview in Ankara yesterday. «We want to get the roads and lottery sales started by the start of June and to complete them by the end of the year,» Kilci said. Including income from sales completed last year, the government expects to raise at least $7.6 billion this year. Turkey is offering rights to operate a network of highways linking the two biggest cities, Ankara and Istanbul, and extending to the Greek border. Also included are the two suspension bridges over the Bosporus strait. Kilci said the assets are likely to be auctioned as a single package. Celebi Hava Servisi AS, a Turkish airport-services provider, said yesterday it had won an auction to operate the port of Bandirma in northwest Turkey with a bid of $175.5 million. The agency expects to receive $2.04 billion from the recent sale of fuel retailer Petkim Petrokimya Holding AS and transfer 51 percent of its shares by the end of this month, Kilci said. Turcas Petrolculuk AS, a Turkish fuel retailer, Azerbaijan’s state oil company Socar and Saudi Arabia’s Injaz Projects Co Ltd have agreed to buy the company. Turkey will earn a further $1.72 billion from British American Tobacco Plc’s purchase of cigarette maker Tekel by the end of June, he said. The payment of $1.28 billion from the sale of Izmir port to Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, the world’s biggest port manager, and Global Yatirim Holding AS hinges on a court ruling and is likely to be made before the end of the year, Kilci said.
