SOCAR Turkey Chairman Kenan Yavuz told Reuters that SOCAR, the Azeri energy giant, is considering selling some of its shares of Turkey's Petkim, but it does not plan to allow its stake in Petkim to fall below the 51 percent controlling level. SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev, on the other hand, told Azeri APA-Economics news agency yesterday: "We bought a 10 percent stake from the state and purchased the remaining stakes from the market. Petkim's share price rose to TL 4.35 [$1.60] per share from TL 1.8 in the past two years, and that's why we would like to sell some of our shares."

Yavuz said Petkim was the foundation of all their investments and they had a master plan concerning it until 2030. He also stressed that a sale of shares bought on the stock market in 2009 and 2010 was possible. "We have a 65 percent stake in the company and sometimes consider a sale that would not bring the stake below 51 percent. The timing of a sale has not been decided but could be considered this year," Yavuz highlighted. Last month, SOCAR Turkey announced the company had decided to re-apply to the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) for the sale of Petkim shares. The sale was dismissed on June 8 due to uncertainty in the political scene following the June 7 general elections, which ended the 13-year single-party government. Previously SOCAR Turkey announced on the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) that a 1.6 percent share of Petkim was to be sold, which was then worth a nominal value of TL 16 million.