Page 10 - TURKRptApr21

2.3 Politics - shorts
The Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) has secured a $300mn and 7-year loan from Russia’s Sovcombank for the Akkuyu nuclear plant project in Turkey.
Turkey’s competition regulator hit Unilever with TRY480mn ice cream market abuse fine.
Turkey’s Bietsan Bakir is accused of sending stones to a Chinese buyer rather than copper.
Turkey’s Enka Insaat remains under pressure by Georgian people over attempts to construct the Lower Namakhvani HPP (hydropower dam plant) (333 MW) and the Upper Namakhvani HPP (100 MW) on the Rioni River, the longest river that flows solely within Georgia.
Canada’s Alamos Gold has been crying foul after its gold mine license in the Kaz Mountains was revoked. Local media suggested the license was transferred to the Erdogan-affiliated Cengiz Insaat.
Erdogan pulled Turkey out of a Council of Europe accord to protect women known as the Istanbul Convention.
On March 17, a regime prosecutor filed a case with the “constitutional” court (there’s not much that is constitutional about Turkey’s courts nowadays) to ban the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the country’s third largest party in parliament.
Turkey’s exports to Saudi Arabia sank to 14.1mn riyals ($3.76mn) in January from 50.6mn riyals in December, and from 622mn riyals in January 2020.
Hundreds of Uighurs staged protests in Ankara and Istanbul, denouncing Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to Turkey.
2.4 Polls and sociology
Some 86% of business owners in Turkey failed to pay rent, utility bills and meet tax obligations since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study by the country’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
The research was carried in 20 provinces with 1,000 business owners.
Nearly 14% of those polled said they had to sell their homes or cars in order to keep their business afloat.
The research also found that 28% of small and medium-sized enterprises suffered revenue losses between Turkish Lira (TRY) 50,000 (€ 5,700) and TRY 100,000 while 34% reported a revenue loss between TRY100,000 to TRY 150,000.
Only 34% of business owners had access to cheaper loans provided by banks during the pandemic, while another 81% said they failed to pay loan installments.
The number of dollar millionaires in Turkey declined to 114,821 in 2020 from 145,810 in 2019 and 172,000 in 2015.
Some 1.6mn Syrians are benefitting from Turkish government financial
10 TURKEY Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com