Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said Wednesday that Turkey will be achieving a total investment of TL 8.75 billion in electricity distribution this year and next year.

Speaking at the 12th Sectoral Meeting of Electricity Distribution Services Association (ELDER), Minister Dönmez said that they took important steps to liberalize energy markets and establish a competitive energy market.

He also recalled that they allocated an investment budget of TL 30 billion, including TL 18 billion in the private sector and TL 12 billion in the public sector, in the 2016-2020 period to renew both transmission and distribution infrastructure with the aim of providing world-class services in Turkey.

Dönmez further explained that they set very clear targets and success criteria to enhance service quality for distribution companies and carried out surveys in this regard.

"We have invested TL 12.3 billion in the last three years. Our three year planned target was 55 percent. We scored 63 percent at this rate," he continued. "Hopefully, we will achieve our goals by realizing a total investment of TL 8.75 billion this year and next year. On the transmission side, we realized investment of approximately TL 3.4 billion in 2018 with a realization rate of 119 percent. We expect another investment of TL 2 billion in 2019."

On the other hand, Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) Chairman Mustafa Yılmaz stated that in 2018, the distribution companies invested TL 3.5 billion with a realization of about 14 percent of the maximum projected three-year investment amount.