Deadline for Ankara’s gas grid tender delayed
ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency
The government’s attempts to sell gas grids are facing successive delays.
The deadline to place bids for the privatization of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality’s 20 percent share in Başkent Doğalgaz, the capital’s natural-gas grid, has been postponed until May 17.The 20 percent stake in Başkent, which is owned by the subsidiaries of several municipal firms, will be privatized via a share sale on May 17, according to an announcement by the municipality published in yesterday’s Official Gazette. The previous deadline was Feb. 16.
The deadline to place bids on Feb. 16 was first announced on Dec. 28, 2011, by the municipality, according to the official notice.
Meanwhile, the privatization of the remaining 80 percent stake, which is being overseen by Turkey’s Privatization Administration (ÖİB), has become bogged down after a number of deadline postponements.
The deadline to place bids for the privatization of the majority stake was postponed from Jan. 27 to April 16 – the third postponement after the ÖİB first attempted to start a tender process Oct. 31, 2011.
Azerbaijan’s state-run natural gas company, Socar, had obtained authorization documents to bid for the privatization of the 80 percent stake of Başkent Doğalgaz, according to media reports last month. Prominent domestic conglomerates and holdings, such as Sabancı and Koç, as well as other foreign companies, were interested in the tender, officials from the Economy Ministry had told Reuters.
