Hazar Raporu - Issue 01 - Fall 2012

an important player in the Turkish
context. SOCAR is becoming the
biggest international direct investor
in Turkey’s economy. By late 2017,
SOCAR’s investments in the Turkish
economy are expected to reach 17
USD billion including the PETKİM
acquisition and TANAP.
Recently, SOCAR explained the delay
in reaching the deal over issues related
to tax and investment regime and not
over the size of the respective stakes
between Azerbaijani and Turkish
partners as it has been presumed
in the press. News that Turkish
entities were seeking an equal stake
with SOCAR in the TANAP project
circulated before the signature of
the intergovernmental agreement.
SOCAR may indeed feel constrained
because they plan to distribute parts
of their 80 percent stake in TANAP
to companies with gas drilling rights
in Azerbaijan; namely, BP and Statoil,
both of whom have proposed to join
the pipeline. Regardless of TANAP’s
final ownership structure, SOCAR
will insist on retaining control of the
pipeline’s management. It is equally
important to notice that SOCAR has
publicly disagreed with an assessment
by BP that the original Nabucco route
is off the table for the Shah Deniz-II gas
project.
CASPIAN REPORT
55