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case against the Greek firm at the ICC in 2009, demanding that it pay €300mn ($332mn) for reportedly failing to meet its take-or-pay commitment. A take-or-pay clause in a supply contract requires a buyer to pay for gas supplies regardless of whether it takes them or not, or face a fine.
The ICC subsequently issued a €180mn award to Botas. But DEPA later lodged its own claims over what it described as unfair pricing since 2011. The verdict last week will see Botas retroactively apply a price cut from this year, a source told Reuters.
While details have not been disclosed, even a modest price revision would mean Botas forking out tens of millions of euros in compensation to DEPA. The award comes at a fortunate time for Greece, which has recently broken up DEPA and is preparing to sell off a majority stake in its wholesale and retail activities this month. The government has also launched a tender for 100% of its distribution network.
DEPA also has long-term contracts for gas supply with Russia’s Gazprom and Algeria’s Sonatrach. It is currently in talks with Gazprom to remove the take-or-pay clause in their contract, while also seeking a price reduction from Sonatrach for LNG.
DEPA’s contract with Botas is due to expire in 2021, after which point it intends to buy gas directly from Azerbaijan via the nearly completed Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) network. The country is also building a second LNG import terminal to diversify its supply even further.
9.1.2 Automotive sector
In 2019, Turkish carmakers exported 86% of their overall production. In Q4, Ford Otosan’s exports declined by 4% y/y to 86,529 units while Tofas’ exports fell by 14% y/y to 43,790. Oyak Renault, a JV between Renault and local conglomerate Oyak, was the largest vehicle exporter in Turkey at 295,275 passenger car units in 2019 while Toyota exported 227,019 passenger cars and Hyundai Assan 169,803 units.
63 TURKEY Country Report OUTLOOK 2020 www.intellinews.com