Turkish wealth fund to invest $10 bln in petrochemical refinery

The Turkish wealth fund will invest around $10 billion for the construction of a petrochemical refinery in southern Turkey, the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday, in a move it said was aimed at alleviating the country's trade deficit.

The Turkish Wealth Fund (TVF), worth $50 billion, was set up in 2016 by the government to develop and increase the value of Turkey's strategic assets and provide resources for investment.

Ceyhan is touted as a hub for petrochemical products and already has one petrochemical project under development in the region.

The decision to develop the complex marks the fund's first greenfield investment in the energy sector. It is also in line with Turkey's Treasury and Finance Ministry's New Economy Program for 2020-2022 to reduce dependency on energy imports, of which Turkey pays $43 billion on an annual basis.

The design and engineering works for the refinery and the petrochemical complex will be completed by 2021 when the construction of the facility will start.

The project will create 10,000 jobs during the construction period and another 5,000 jobs when the complex is operational, Anadolu said. It added that the project would contribute around $1.5 billion annually to Turkey's trade deficit.

A number of public assets including those from Turkey's Pipeline Corporation Company, Turkish Airlines, Turkish Petroleum, Halkbank, Ziraat Bank, Borsa Istanbul were transferred to the wealth fund.

The complex is also purported to help reduce Turkey's current account deficit by $1.5 billion annually by reducing the country's petrochemical imports, which reached $13 billion last year.

Turkey aims to decrease dependency on imports in the energy, mining, refinery and petrochemical sectors, considered strategic areas that the fund is targeting for investments.