OMV says sale of Turkey’s Samsun plant possible

VIENNA - Reuters

Further writedowns on Austrian oil and gas group OMV’s ailing Samsun gas power plant in Turkey are possible and the facility could be sold, the head of OMV’s downstream division, Manfred Leitner, told Reuters in an interview.

OMV this month booked an impairment of 205 million euros at Samsun, where regulatory measures are weighing on margins. Leitner said there would be no more writedowns for Samsun this year.

No concrete sale process has started, but Leitner said he could imagine regional investors being interested in the plant.

The company’s new chief executive, Rainer Seele, said he saw a “difficult future” for OMV in Turkey, especially for Samsun on Aug. 12.

OMV’s 870 MW plant was slated to commence operations in mid-2013, but the production license was canceled by the Council of State several times due to environmental protection constraints that stemmed from the plant being constructed close to an urban area, according to several reports.