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29 May, 2006
ICEM Turkish affiliate Petrol-Īş’s efforts to block, through several lawsuits, the 51% sale of state-owned oil refiner Turkiye Petro Rafinerisi AS (TÜPRAS) produced another court victory on 23 May.
The Ankara Administrative Court cancelled sale of the 14.76% minority stake to Israeli investor Sami Ofer on the grounds that the sale did not benefit the “public good.” Ofer’s bid of US$446 million last year for a minority stake in TÜPRAS had ballooned into a potential US$1.2 billion investment due to the revaluation of the state company.
On 2 February 2006, a preliminary ruling by the Council of State judiciary panel blocked the controlling stake in a privatised TÜPRAS when it ruled against the purchase by a consortium made up of Turkey’s Koc Holdings and Royal Dutch Shell. That ruling was issued on the basis that privatisation laws had not been adhered to.
The ruling, however, was vacated when no further court action occurred by a 29 March deadline. Petrol- Īş will now challenge this privatisation matter before the General Council of Administrative Courts.
The union will also continue its public campaign against the sale of TÜPRAS, and likely will engage in further industrial actions at the company’s four refineries and petrochemical plant. Petrol- Īş has also made application on the matter before the European Court of Human Rights.