Financing packages for build-operate-transfer (BOT) power station projects have moved forward following a legal breakthrough by the country's council of state (Danistay) in May.

The projects include:

About DM 550 million ($392.8 million) for the Birecik hydro-electric dam, signed with the treasury in the week ending 9 June. The 672-MW project is headed by Germany's Philipp Holzmann and local contractor Gama, and is advised financially by The Chase Manhattan Bank. Of the remaining cost, equity contributions will finance about 15 per cent, and the rest will be funded by export credits from the countries of foreign companies participating in the BOT venture - chiefly Germany and France. The BOT venture also has to reach agreements with the Turkish government later this month on guarantees of electricity sales to the Turkish Electricity Generation & Transmission Corporation (TEAS), and for a subordinated loan to cover major contingencies.

Agreement on 8 June by the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) of the US for the provision of a $241 million loan or guarantee supporting the sale of power generating equipment for the $520 million, 500-MW combined cycle plant project at Ereglisi on the Sea of Marmara. Nooter Erickson of St Louis, Missouri, and other US suppliers will provide the equipment. Bankers Trust is arranging a syndication of commercial banks to supply construction loans covered by the Ex-Im Bank guarantee, Ex-Im said. The project is sponsored by a group led by the US' Enron Corporation and Wing Merrill, and also includes the local Gama and the UK's Midlands Electricity.