Greek boss invites Turks to save plants

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

A greek boss has invited Turkish business people to participate privatization tender of Hellenic Petroleum, which is seen in this file photo. Company photo

Turkish businessmen could take over factories closing in Greece, a Greek boss has said.

“Every day 1,000 people are losing their jobs in Greece and we’d appreciate the interest of Turkish businessmen in these factories,” the chairman of the Greek-Turkish Business Council, Dimitris Papanicolaou, told Anatolia news agency in an interview.

The businessman, who is the deputy board chairman of Neon Energy, also invited Turkish bosses to participate in the privatization tender of the Greek state-owned oil refining company, Hellenic Petroleum.

He said he had already discussed the matter with Tüpraş, Turkey’s leading oil refiner and crude exporter, but its executives are still cautious about possible risks.

 “State-owned stakes will be privatized soon. They will be open to Turks as well, like everybody,” he said.

Many production facilities and businesses are halting operations in Greece, suffering from dwindling sectors in the debt-crushed and austerity-buried country.

Ahmet Hacı Osman, deputy from the Greek province of Rodop – where mainly Greeks of Turkish origin live – said they had already approached the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) to inform them about the current situation in Greece, as only five or six factories out of 96 are still operating in the Rodop region.

“They [the TOBB representatives] also want Turkish businessmen to operate closing factories. There are demands from other parts of Greece as well. Our desire is increased cooperation with industrially developed Turkey,” he said.

He has also talked with Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopulos about the issue, Osman said, adding that Greeks have noticed the difficulties of businessmen from countries other than Turkey investing in Greece.