1 January 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
The 13th Chamber of the Council of State has stopped the privatization of the Turkish Sugar Refineries Corporation’s (TÜRKŞEKER) sugar refineries in Kastamonu, Kırşehir, Turhal, Yozgat, Çorum and Çarşamba, known as Portfolio C, as a result of a court case initiated by Şeker-İş, a union representing sugar refinery workers.
According to information gathered by the Anatolia news agency, the court stopped the privatization on Wednesday due to claims that the privatization would be unable to meet the requirements set forth in the process, including keeping the supply and demand balance of the sector stable, not creating a dependency on foreign resources and sustaining production in all of the refineries.
The privatization deal required at least five years of production at current levels and a $50 million deposit for the portfolio, and the court noted that measures had not been taken to ensure that these requirements would be met. The decision to halt the privatization was passed by a vote of four to one.
Nine firms had entered the final stage of bidding for the Portfolio C factories, with Ak-Can Şeker Sanayii ve Tic. A.Ş. winning the tender with an offer of $606 million.
