Ahmet Arslan, minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, said Türk Telekom has not directly signed any debt, obligation or share pledge agreement. According to Minister Arslan, the company's Saudi partner, Oger, is not authorized to transfer its stake to anyone without the approval of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) and the Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Ministry. Stressing that there are many applications for Türk Telekom's shares, Arslan noted that shares would be transferred once a suitable applicant is found.
Arslan said Oger Telecom Inc. (OTAŞ), along with other partners, has a 55 percent share in Türk Telekom's operations until 2026, and it has offered its operation shares as a pledge. Underlining that there is no setback in Türk Telekom's operations, Arslan said the company employs 34,000 people and made TL 956 million ($245.99 million) in profits in the first half of 2017. Highlighting that Türk Telekom has not directly signed any debt, obligation or share pledge agreement, the minister stated that Oger has no right to sell its shares without the approval of BTK and the Ministry of Transport. "There are many applications to acquire the company's stakes, and they will be transferred when the proper applicant is found," Arslan added.
Underlining that Türk Telekom will not be expropriated once again, Arslan said that 15 percent of the company's stakes are already in public ownership and will go on like this.
Oger has so far paid $6.5 billion for 21 years as a result of privatization, and Türk Telekom has gained nearly the same amount from dividends. When the privatization took place, the company had TL 3 billion, 10 percent of which it kept to sustain its operations, while transferring TL 2.8 billion to the Treasury. The company has undertaken a severance payment of TL 1.05 billion, and TL 28.3 billion has been invested so far. A license fee of TL 4 billion has been paid. Dividends of TL 10.4 billion have been paid to the Treasury. The company has sold TL 423 million of real estate so far as a result of the sales of unexploited areas after the introduction of digital facilities that need smaller spaces than analogue ones. In return, TL 1.5 billion worth of real estate has been bought or built.
