Category: EU Members

European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Turkey on 17 Dec. 2004

Restoration of “comet” between Burgas and Istanbul under consideration

Restoration of “comet” between Burgas and Istanbul under consideration

20 March 2012 | 21:21 | FOCUS News Agency

Ankara. Prime Ministers of Bulgaria and Turkey discussed on restoration of the fast moving sea vessel, the so-called “comet” between Burgas and Istanbul. This will lead to more inflow of tourists, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, a reporter of FOCUS News Agency announced.

Erdogan said that the Ministers of Transport were assigned – to think what can be done to facilitate the travel of tourists.

One option is to build a four-way road from Varna via Burgas to Istanbul. Thus, many historical and cultural attractions in the Black Sea in Bulgaria and Turkey will become even more accessible.

Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and Istanbul have prepared a kind of “roadmap” for the commitments of the joint cabinet meeting today.

via Restoration of “comet” between Burgas and Istanbul under consideration – FOCUS Information Agency.

March 21, 2012
Ukraine in talks with Germany, Romania and Turkey over gas imports

Business, World | nineoclock | March 19th, 2012 at 9:00 PM

Ukraine has started talks with Germany, Romania and Turkey to buy 2-3.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from each country in a bid to reduce imports of more expensive Russian gas, Kommersant-Ukraine reported on Monday, citing sources in the Energy Ministry, Ria Novosti reports.Naftogaz, the Ukrainian national energy company intends to purchase about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas in Europe or about one third of gas supplies to the ex-Soviet republic, its head Yevheniy Bakulin said on March 17. He mentioned the price of natural gas in Europe was about USD 30-40 per 1,000 cubic meters lower than the price fixed in the 2009 contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom.Russia and Ukraine have been embroiled in a drawn-out dispute over the price and volume of Russian gas purchased by Ukraine. Kiev insists the current price is too high, while Moscow is pushing for control of Ukraine’s gas transit system to Europe, as part of a deal to cut prices. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said that Ukraine annually pays about USD 3.8 bln more for Russian natural gas supplies than the price paid by European countries or about 8 percent of Ukraine’s total budget spending in 2012. Yanukovych said USD 250 per 1,000 cu m was a fair price for Russian natural gas supplies compared with over USD 400 per 1,000 cu m paid by Ukraine in the fourth quarter of 2012.

via Ukraine in talks with Germany, Romania and Turkey over gas imports.

March 20, 2012
About 60 Bulgarian doctors will work with Bulgarian hospital in Istanbul

About 60 Bulgarian doctors will work with Bulgarian hospital in Istanbul: professor

18 March 2012 | 12:25 | FOCUS News Agency

Home / Southeast Europe and Balkans

Sofia. It is planned that about 60 Bulgarian doctors will work with the Bulgarian hospital in Istanbul, major general professor Stoyan Tonev, chief of Military Medical Academy in Sofia, said in an interview with FOCUS News Agency.

He has committed to the restoration of the hospital after the Turkish government decided to return it to Bulgaria.

The hospital was set up in 1902 by the Bulgarian Exarchate with the help of donations, the biggest one given by Bulgarian 19 c. entrepreneur and banker Evlogi Georgiev. In 1988 the Turkish authorities took away the hospital. A month ago Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said all property of religious communities would be returned.

After overcoming all bureaucratic hurdles the Bulgarian state should take care of the hospital, said prof. Tonev.

It needs around 60 doctors. It will have about 120-140 doctors and nurses in total, with half of them coming from Bulgaria, he added.

After overcoming all bureaucratic hurdles we want to establish a hospital together with the Turkish hospital and work together and treat the Bulgarian and other communities. What is important is to restore the heritage left by patriotic Bulgarians and do it in their memory. That’s why we put a monument to Evlogi Georgiev and Joseph I, a Bulgarian exarch, in front of the building, explained prof. Stoyan Tonev.

Ekaterina PANOVA

via About 60 Bulgarian doctors will work with Bulgarian hospital in Istanbul: professor – FOCUS Information Agency.

March 19, 2012
Evros: The Greek Borders are “Protected” by a Single… Model Fence

3,000 illegal immigrants crossed the Greek borders during the first two months of 2012 only from Northern Evros, when last year the same figure totaled 1,609 –therefore minus 50%. Despite the public announcements of Frontex regarding the construction of the so called Fence of Evros, the only thing someone can see marking the Greek borders right now is… a model of the fence.

“I used every possible means to leave Afghanistan to get to Istanbul. From Istanbul I walked for 250 kilometers till Adrianoupolis where I met my ‘middle-man’ who would carry me to Greece. I paid 1,200 Euros. He told me it was too easy to cross the Greek borders, as long as I stuck to his directions. He assured me that no one would hurt me after I’ve crossed the borders. I waited for hours in the dark with other immigrants and at some point they took us all and transferred us on foot to Greek soil” explains Hamint, an immigrant from Afghanistan to the Greek newspaper “Proto Thema”.

“My compatriots invited me here. They told me I will surely find a job in Greece, from the ones that the locals won’t do”, Hamint adds.

For an immigrant to cross Adrianoupolis to Orestiada there is a fixed “tariff” of 800 to 1,200 Euros. There are hundreds of spots on the Evros borders where immigrants can illegally cross to Greece. They immigrants arrive in hundreds either by land or by the river of Evros, even during days with harsh weather conditions when the river gets dangerous, explains the Police official of Orestiada to “Proto Thema”.

Many immigrants get drowned in the river and never make it to Greece. Eleven corpses have been withdrawn from the river only during the last week.

There have been seven arrests of Turkish traffickers since January. Many of them are usually armed and won’t hesitate to fire against police. Last year they injured a Greek police officer after shooting him four times.

55% of the immigrants that get arrested are Afghani and the rest of them come mostly from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, according to the Police archives of Orestiada.

The coveted fence is expected to be 10.3 kilometers long, but the river of Evros will still be the biggest crossing point of the illegal immigrants. One month ago, Christos Papoutsis (former Minister for Citizen Protection) inaugurated the 3.2 million Euro fence, but the Greek government hasn’t yet proceeded with the construction. However the Ministry has left a… model fence to “guard” the Greek borders.

(Source: Proto Thema, Anastasia Karapatsia)

via Evros: The Greek Borders are “Protected” by a Single… Model Fence | Greece.GreekReporter.com Latest News from Greece.

March 18, 2012
Gaddafi ‘contributed €50m to Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential election fund’

Colonel Gaddafi in Paris after a meeting with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy in December 2007. Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

French president hit by new claims as confidential note suggests ex-Libyan leader helped finance his election campaign

Damaging new claims have emerged about the funding of Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign and his links with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi emerged.

The French investigative website Mediapart claims to have seen a confidential note suggesting Gaddafi contributed up to €50m (£42m) to Sarkozy’s election fund five years ago.

Similar allegations emerged a year ago when Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam claimed Libya helped finance the 2007 campaign and demanded the French president, who led the war on the Libyan leader, return the money.

In an interview with the Euronews TV channel, Saif al-Islam, who is currently being held in Libya after his father’s defeat and death, threatened to make details of the bank transfers public after the French leader threw his weight behind opposition forces.

The latest allegations come at a crucial time for Sarkozy who is seeking a second term in office in a two-round election in under six weeks.

Mediapart journalist Fabrice Arfi told the Guardian he had seen leaked documents contained in the legal dossier of the affair, currently under investigation by a judge.

“We knew these documents existed but it is the first time we have had the details of what was in them,” he said.

“And there are lots of details, including dates, places and amounts.”

One document, a government briefing note, allegedly points to visits to Libya by Sarkozy and his close colleagues and advisers, which it says were aimed at securing campaign funding.

Shortly after Sarkozy’s election, Colonel Gaddafi was invited to Paris and allowed to pitch his bedouin tent in the grounds of an official French residence close to the Elysée Palace. He was described as the “Brother Leader” by the French.

When previously asked about Saif al-Islam’s claims, a spokesman for the Elysée Palace told Le Monde: “We deny it, quite evidently.”

guardin.co.uk

March 16, 2012
Aeroports de Paris to Buy 38% of Turkey Airport Operator TAV

By Alex Webb and Ercan Ersoy

Aeroports de Paris, operator of the French capital’s airports, agreed to buy a 38 percent stake in Turkish counterpart TAV Havalimanlari Holding AS (TAVHL) for $874 million, the French operator’s largest purchase abroad.

TAV runs Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, seen here, as well as terminals in Latvia, Macedonia and Saudi Arabia. Photographer: Adam Berry/Bloomberg

The agreement with TAV (TAVHL)’s three biggest shareholders also includes a separate acquisition of a 49 percent stake in a construction company, TAV Yatirim Holding AS, for $49 million, Paris-based ADP said today in a statement. ADP and TAV will run 37 airports serving 180 million passengers worldwide, it said.

Enlarge image Aeroports de Paris to Buy 38% Holding in Turkey’s TAV

TAV runs Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, seen here, as well as terminals in Latvia, Macedonia and Saudi Arabia. Photographer: Adam Berry/Bloomberg

ADP was competing with Vinci SA (DG), Europe’s biggest construction company, to buy the TAV stake from investors including Akfen Holding AS (AKFEN). TAV runs Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Europe’s eighth-busiest, as well as terminals in Georgia, Tunisia, Latvia and Macedonia, and it has a contract to build and run an airport in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The purchase will help ADP’s earnings in 2013, the French company said.

“They already had some management contracts in some other foreign airports, but this is the first time that they’ve taken a stake this big in an airport this important,” said Laure Desbrosses, a Paris-based analyst at Oddo & Cie. “The price paid is not excessive, valuing TAV at about 15 percent more than its peers, so it’s a good move.”

Stocks Decline

ADP fell as much as 0.6 percent to 59.93 euros and was trading down 0.3 percent at 60.16 euros at 1:01 p.m. in Paris. The stock has gained 14 percent this year, valuing the company at 5.95 billion euros ($7.8 billion). TAV declined as much as 1.4 percent and was trading down 0.7 percent at 8.48 liras for a market value of 3.08 billion liras ($1.71 billion).

The other shareholders in TAV that are selling stakes are Tepe Holding AS’s Bilkent Holding and Sera Yapi Endustrisi & Ticaret AS.

“There will be a good return on our investment” by the time TAV’s operating concession for Ataturk Airport, the Turkish company’s biggest asset, expires in 2021, ADP Chief Executive Pierre Graff said in an interview after a news conference in Istanbul. The airport’s traffic rose 17 percent last year to 37.5 million passengers.

ADP may not have to make a mandatory tender offer to smaller shareholders in the Turkish airport operator because there’s no change in control of its board, though this is “something that the capital markets regulator will decide,” TAV CEO Sani Sener said at the news conference.

Investment Plan

The French airport operator said it’s paying about 11.30 liras a share for the stake. The purchase is part of ADP’s program of investing in international airports handling more than 10 million passengers a year with “strong” earnings growth potential in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development markets or Brazil, Russia, India or China, it said.

“There is a strategy that has been put in place by TAV which consists of acquiring external airports, one at a time,” Graff said at the news conference. “We have a great deal of respect for what has been achieved at TAV and don’t intend to change this strategy,” and the partners will take the lead in acquisitions in their respective stronger markets.

ADP owns 8 percent of Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and held a stake in Beijing Capital International Airport Company Ltd. before selling that holding in 2007.

The acquisition is subject to the approval of Turkish antitrust regulators, Sener said. ADP will pay for the stake in cash at the closing, he said.

TAV’s selling shareholders hired Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) as its financial adviser, while Pekin & Bayar Law Firm (818987L) and Ertekin Law Office served as counsel. Aeroports de Paris (ADP) hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) as its adviser, and Hogan Lovells (1131L) and Pekin & Pekin as counsel.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Webb in Frankfurt at [email protected]; Ercan Ersoy in Istanbul at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at [email protected]; Benedikt Kammel at [email protected]

via Aeroports de Paris to Buy 38% of Turkey Airport Operator TAV – Bloomberg.

March 15, 2012