Ankara-based BDY Group, operating in wholesale liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), logistics, warehousing and mining, will cooperate with Chinese mining investors following the group's purchases of Russian Petgaz Corp., which owns Turkey’s largest-capacity LPG terminal of 64,150 cubic meters (2.27 million cubic feet).

Veysel Baday, the chairperson of the board of directors, said the purchase of Petgaz for $60 million (TL 445 million) in July 2020 attracted foreign companies to Turkey, including Chinese investors.

"We are now negotiating with Chinese investors for an initial capital inflow of $10 million to be used in mining, which will provide foreign capital inflow to the country's economy," he said.

Baday said that, despite the coronavirus pandemic, the BDY Group, among other Turkish companies, continued investing and expanding.

He said that with the acquisitions and new cooperation, they aim to make significant contributions to Turkey in terms of foreign capital inflow and employment. He noted that they will continue to invest in the mining, construction and real estate sectors.

Baday said that although the consumption of LPG decreased in 2020, according to Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) data, due to mitigation efforts against the coronavirus, including travel restrictions, he forecast that consumption would increase again this year after the negative effects of the pandemic are alleviated.

Pointing out that there is still ambiguity regarding the course of the pandemic, the effectiveness of vaccines and the duration of restrictions, Baday said: "My personal prediction is that 2021 will be a more normalized period than 2020, and there will be none of the high demand reductions that we experienced in 2020. I expect 2021 to be a better year in terms of total LPG sales. I forecast that the LPG market in the country will grow in parallel to the Turkish economy, and with the decrease of the pandemic effect, the LPG consumption will reach the previous level."