FRENCH FIRM MULLS $8 BLN ENERGY INVESTMENT IN TURKEY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 18 2013

18 November 2013 /TODAY’S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL
French energy firm GDF Suez is considering making investments worth
$8 billion in Turkey in the coming years as Ankara increases its
appeal as a safe energy corridor in the region, Energy Minister Taner
Yıldız said on Monday.

Yıldız is in Paris to participate in an International Energy Agency
(IEA) meeting; Turkey begins its interim presidency term at the
Paris-based IAE platform this week. “Turkey is becoming a critical
energy transfer hub for Europe and its suppliers to the East. We
are excited to diversify the sources and means of energy transport,
and the IAE presidency serves this goal,” Yıldız told reporters
on Monday in Paris. Underlining that the country has sought to
attract new investments, the minister said GDF Suez shared plans to
possibly make an investment of around $8 billion in Turkish energy
markets. Yıldız said there is the potential for foreign companies
to invest $118 billion in Turkish energy markets.

“We will maintain contact with various foreign partners to use this
potential,” he said.

Earlier this year, GDF Suez was interested in a bid to build Turkey’s
second nuclear power plant with a projected investment of $20-25
billion. Turkey, however, awarded the project to a Japanese firm.

Prior to that, Ankara rejected requests by two French firms for
involvement in Turkish nuclear power projects in 2012 amid Turkish
anger at a French bill making it illegal to deny that the mass killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago was genocide.

GDF’s energy services unit employs nearly 80,000 staff, over half
its total staff count, and is expanding abroad through acquisitions,
most recently with the 190 million pound purchase of the facilities
management unit of Britain’s Balfour Beatty.

Yıldız is scheduled to meet other French energy firms in Paris. As
interim president, Ankara will be responsible for moderating among
28 members on such issues as energy security, development and
environmental awareness.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress