Share transfer ceremony of Aras EDAŞ and Aras EPAŞ took place in Erzurum with the participation of Taner Yıldız, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Finance.
The ceremony was hosted by Çalık Holding Chairman Ahmet Çalık and Kiler Holding Chairman Nihat Kiler.
21 Regions Completed in September
Minister Mr. Yıldız emphasized on the government’s privatization vision in shifting its synergy and financial resources to education and health. Yıldız said, “We have come to finalize the privatization on electricity distribution. In the next month, privatization in 21 regions will be completed.” Mehmet Şimşek Minister of Finance said, “10 years ago, we mostly paid interest fees with majority of our income. Today, 86 percent of the income go to investment, 14 percent go to domestic and international debt interests. Citizens must pay the government to account regarding their taxes. We focus on education and human capital.”
Investment to Exceed 1.5 Billion
Çalık Holding Chairman Ahmet Çalık said, “The government has demonstrated that it trusted us by making the right decision and transferring the electricity distribution service to the hands of private sector. We know that we undertake great responsibility. We would like to ensure you that we will keep on working having this responsibility in mind.” Mr. Çalık indicated that the tender value is US$128.5 million but the total investment would exceed $US1.5 billion. Kiler Holding Chairman Nihat Kiler said, “We now undertake the power investment of this region so that the government could focus on education, health and infrastructure.”
