Azeri President Aliyev wants Socar to be Turkey's number 1

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has said he wants Azeri state-run energy company Socar's Turkey arm to be the "biggest group in Turkey" by 2023. "I want to see the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic [SOCAR] become the biggest group in Turkey by 2023," the Azeri president said after his meeting with members of Socar Turkey during the "Caspian Oil & Gas" fair in Azerbaijan. Visiting the state energy firm's pavilion at the fair, which began on June 4 and ends today, Aliyev received some briefings about Socar's operations and investment projects in Turkey from Socar Turkey head Kenan Yavuz and Socar President Rovnag Abdullayev. Apparently, he was pleased with what he heard. "Our aim was to become one of Turkey's top three groups by 2018 with a $15 to $20 billion income," Yavuz said, speaking to the press after the small presentation. "But the president wanted us to revise our target to first place." Yavuz says they "sincerely believe" Socar could achieve this aim with more work, considering the upward trajectory the company already has in Turkey. Socar Turkey was founded by Socar to carry out its activities in Turkey in 2008, as that was the year Socar entered Turkish markets by acquiring control of Turkish petrochemical giant Petkim. "Since then, we have invested $327 million in Petkim, while our continuing investments amount to $114 million," Yavuz said. Socar has recently inked a deal with Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas to build a $4.3 billion new refinery at the Petkim peninsula, located in the Aliaga district of Izmir. It also plans to establish Petkim Container Port and STEP energy power plant there, making Socar's projected total investment on the peninsula $9 billion. "The Petkim peninsula hosts Turkey's largest investment and localization projects, thanks to Socar's Value-Site 2023 vision," Yavuz said. Socar also partners with Turkey in the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline project, in which Turkey has a 20 percent stake and Socar holds 80 percent. "Socar, which has initiated the Petkim Star Refinery, the Petkim Container Port, the Step Power Plant, and TANAP project up until today, will invest a total of $17 billion in a 10-year period covering the years between 2008 and 2018," Yavuz said, noting that this amount was $3 billion higher than the total amount of foreign direct investment that entered Turkey between 1923 and 2003.