The government's Privatisation Administration (PA) has awarded a consultancy contract for the privatisation of telecommunications to a consortium led by Goldman Sachs.

Bids from five ventures were received by the PA for the contract in November (MEED 6:12:96). The Goldman Sachs venture also includes UBS, Lazard Freres, Barclays Bank, Garanti Investment Bank, and Global Securities.

The sale of Turk Telekomunikasyon (Turk Telekom) is the cornerstone of the government's sweeping privatisation plans. A new telecoms law was enacted on

6 August to pave the way for the sale. Previous efforts were stalled by opposition motions upheld by the Constitutional Court.

Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan says the government is determined to sell Turk Telekom, and will make the necessary amendments if the court rules against the 6 August legislation in a new case opened against it by the opposition.

The government initially plans to sell between 10-15 per cent of Turk Telekom in the first half of 1997. The initial portion of Turk Telekom will raise between $3,000 million-4,000 million, taking into account the company's total estimated worth of $20,000 million.