The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) Turkey Chairman Vagif Aliyev said yesterday investments planned in Turkey are progressing, noting that they are on the eve of the investment decision, also called the second Petkim, in addition to investments that will reach $19.5 billion.
The final investment decision for the realization of this giant investment, which will exceed $3 billion, will be made in 2019, Aliyev indicated, stressing that the declaration of the Aliağa Peninsula, which is planned for the investment, as a "strategic investment zone," will facilitate the said decision, according to a report in Turkish daily Habertürk.
Aliyev said that investment feasibility studies are underway and that there is a similar strategic investment zone in Singapore.
"The government's and our projects continue. To realize this investment that we call a new Petkim, we submitted our proposal for the strategic investment zone to the government. We see ourselves as a strategic investor in Turkey, and Turkey sees us as a strategic investor as well," Aliyev said. Highlighting that providing strategic investment zone status to the Aliağa region will facilitate their investment, Aliyev said no applications will be made to different ministries in this regard and the whole investment process will be carried out from a single center, adding that this decision will reduce bureaucracy.
He stated that the licensing agreements required for production at the second Petkim have started and that agreements with BP and Axens have been concluded, while they are still in talks with others.
Indicating that 80 percent of SOCAR's overseas investments have been made in Turkey, amounting to $12.6 billion so far, Aliyev said when the investments are completed, this figure will reach $19.5 billion. "For example, we have invested $100 million every year since we bought Petkim from privatization. We have not brought one penny from Turkey for 10 years. Every penny earned goes to investments in Turkey," he said.
Aliyev stated that the gas reserves of Azerbaijan are calculated at 2 trillion cubic meters, while Shah Deniz's reserve are 1.2 trillion cubic meters alone. "Although Azerbaijan is a country closed to open seas, it is opened to the world by pipelines. In line with Heydar Aliyev's strategy of linking Azerbaijan to Turkey, significant investments were made in Turkey," he said.
He confirmed that the first gas will be delivered to Turkey via the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project on June 19 as previously announced at last week's meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev, who visited Turkey for the first time following the elections.
