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Turkish economy resembles Italy
10-15 years ago
The
General Manager of Banca Di Roma Fabio Lucheroni commented on the similarity of
the Turkish economy as compared to the Italian economy of 10-15 years ago and
stated that the interest of foreign investors will increase. Lucheroni said
“The size of the companies will grow further, besides they will attract the
attention of foreign investors. This will also prevail for the banks. I think
the interest for your economy is not related to a possible European Union
accession but a political direction indeed which goes parallel to it”. He
stated that they are interested in
Turkey
because they think very rapid developments will occur in
Turkey
in the banking industry. (Dünya,
29.03.06)
Sanko enters the white goods market with
Auer brand
Sanko
Holding having made important investments in energy, cement, food and health
entered the white goods industry by acquiring 75% of Auer company. Prepared to
invest 100 million dollars in this field Sanko Holding is aiming to rank in the
Top 10 of the white goods industry. Chairman of Board of Sanko Holding Abdülkadir
Konukoglu stated they decided to enter the white goods industry as they already
produce air-conditioners, NG-boilers and radiators under the Airfel brand and
they have now added washing machines, ovens, water heaters and again
air-conditioners of the Auer brand to their product range. (Dünya,
07.04.06)
5,000 decided to go on strike in cement
industry
The
Union of Turkish Cement, Ceramics, Earth and Glass Industry Workers found the 5%
pay increase unacceptable and decided to strike. Chairman of Board of Union of
Turkish Cement, Ceramics, Earth and Glass Industry Workers Ramazan Şafak
announced that they will start applying the strike decision taken on March 17
for 43 factories effective on May 1. He stated that additionally the workers of
23 of these factories will stop working completely. General Secretary of
Association of Cement Producers Sancar Beyazıt on the other hand said that the
negotiations are still ongoing and in case of disagreement possible strike and
lock-out decisions will cause great trouble in construction industry. (Dünya,
07.04.06)
IKEA opens its second store in
Turkey
in Izmir
Furniture
and home accessories chain IKEA opens its second store in
Turkey
in
Izmir
after its first store opened in
Istanbul
a year ago. Aiming to increase the number of its stores to 8 by 2012, the
Izmir
store of the company was established with an investment of 40 million Euros.
Furthermore, IKEA Turkey General Manager Mikael Bartroff said “The share of
the products produced in the
Far East
is 27%. We cooperate with Paşabahçe and Zorlu from
Turkey. Turkish products amounting to 300 million dollars have been sold in IKEA
stores until today”. (Dünya 04.04.06)
Greek Ethniki acquired Finansbank for
2.7 billion dollars
The
largest bank of Greece, Ethniki Bank, concluded the agreement envisaging the
acquisition of 46% of Finansbank shares and 100% of founder’s shares for a
price of 2.2 billion Euros (2.7 billion dollars) in
Athens. Özyegin will continue to manage Finansbank, despite his share dropping to
10%. (Dünya 04.04.06)
2005 was the best year of Unilever in
Turkey
Chairman
of Board of Unilever Turkey Izzet Karaca described 2005 as the best year of the
company during its 54 years existence in Turkey. Despite a slight contraction in Europe last year, Karaca stated that Unilever
experienced an 8.7% growth in Asia-Africa region where
Turkey
is also located. Karaca also said that they are slowly preparing to acquire a
company. They invested 35 million
dollars in 2005 as well as hiring 400 people and are also considering creating
new employment opportunities in 2006. (Dünya
17.03.2006)
Pin instead of signature application
starts for credit cards
Credit
card users will be required to enter a pin code instead of signing payment slips
as of the end of March. The General Manager of Interbank Card Center Sertaç Özinal
stated that credit card-related crimes in
England
were reduced by 25% in a year with this new system. Özinal also stated that
this system reduces the threat of credit card copying and other loss/theft
risks. (Dünya 17.03.2006)
Value added tax for textiles has been
reduced
In order to balance the competition capacity of the textile industry and the
problems this sector is experiencing due to the strong Turkish Lira, the Turkish
government has decided to reduce the Value Added Tax for textiles from 18% to
8%. (Dünya,
10.3.2006)
1 billion investment by Mopak in
cellulose
Mehmet
Ali Molay, Chairman of Board of Mopak (which became a major player of paper
industry after acquiring Dalaman and Kastamonu facilities of Seka) stated that
they are aiming to meet the 500-thousand-ton cellulose import of
Turkey
single-handedly by investing 1 billion dollars in eucalyptus plantations. Mopak
is continuing its negotiations with foreign investors for the project, which
will increase the cellulose production capacity from 75,000 tons to 750,000
tons. Molay said that after 2015 they will be able to continue production with
materials derived from their own plantations because eucalyptus planted in 2007
will have matured by then. (06.03.2006
Dünya)
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Paper production in
Turkey
(2005)
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Type
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Quantity(Tons)
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Newsprint
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18,957
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Writing paper
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279,815
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Craft bag
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43,534
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Board
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259,440
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Corrugated cardboard
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19,872
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TOTAL:
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621,618
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Nurol becomes a shareholder in Telsim
with Vodafone
Vodafone,
having acquired Telsim by submitting the highest bid of 4.5 billion dollars, has
finalized its partnership with Nurol Holding. Nurol acquired 20% shares from
Vodafone Telecommunications established for Telsim. Nurol Holding will be
represented in the board by Mehmet Sinasi Büyüklü. (04.03.2006 Dünya)
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