By Trend

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR hopes to complete the purchase of Turkish assets of the German energy giant EWE in the first quarter of 2019, a source close to the negotiations said, Trend reports citing Turkish media.

“We expect the purchase to be completed in the first quarter, we can confirm this,” the source said.

Turkish media reported that the deal concerns the shares of EWE Turkey Holding, subsidiary of EWE, in Bursagaz, Kayserigaz, EWE Enerji and Enervis. Reportedly, the cost of the agreement is estimated at $140 million.

Earlier, EWE told Trend that the decision about the possible sale of its assets in Turkey is related to the optimization of the company's activity.

“In the past 10 years, EWE has built up valuable companies in Turkey, which are able to manage investments entirely on their own,” EWE said. “Nevertheless, EWE regularly reviews whether all current measures ensure sustainable growth for the Group in the defined future areas.”

“Therefore, we conducted a market investigation for our Turkey business,” the company said. “We noticed that there are some interested parties for this business. If a prospective customer wants to continue this business and offers us an acceptable price, EWE will divest this business.”

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