The Council of Ministers has authorised state electricity authority KIB-TEK’s Board of Directors to prepare a contract for KIB-TEK to produce 51 percent of the total annual electricity generation capacity and 49 percent to be produced by a private company, Yeniduzen reports.
It is also stated that “if more energy is needed, more than 49 per cent of the energy can be purchased from the service procurement company“.
The decision was published in the Official Gazette on Thursday night.
The Electricity Authority Employees’ Union (EL-SEN) believes that with this addition, the institution will be privatised because no investment will be made in the Teknecik Power Plant, thus production will be completely transferred to private Turkish energy company AKSA.
EL-SEN issued a written statement regarding the decision and described it as “an indication that the amendment to the Public Procurement Law was made for the purpose of privatisation“.
In the statement, it was also stated that the decision of the Council of Ministers was presented to the KIB-TEK Board of Directors in the form of a “proposal” before it was published in the Official Gazette and that management reacted by rejecting it.
KIB-TEK Chairman Hüseyin Paşa told Yeniduzen that, “We did not receive such a proposal. It is a lie. We only exchanged ideas. If there was a proposal, it would have been recorded. Let them take it out and show it“, he said.
Upon Paşa’s denial of this claim, EL-SEN President Çağlayan Cesurer, told Yeniduzen that the Prime Minister would strong-arm KIB-TEK’S board of directors into signing the above-mentioned agreement.
He said, “He can deny it, I did not make this statement out of the blue. I made it because I found out. Now the Prime Minister will call the Board Members one by one and say that if you do not sign, I will find someone else. This has always been the case.
“We have requested a meeting with the Prime Minister, we will respond with any action, including an indefinite strike“.
Cesurer stated that his union has requested an appointment with Prime Minister Ünal Üstel on this issue, and after the meeting, they will meet with other organisations and determine a road map for action.
Cesurer said, “If this decision, which will further increase costs, is carried forward, we will respond with all legal actions, including an indefinite strike“.
