Privatized ports’ management may be extended to 49 years without tender

* Photo: Meclis Haber

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The Parliament has approved a legislative proposal which foresees an increase in the fines imposed for stockpiling and an extension of the privatized ports' management to 49 years without lodging a tender.

According to the law, the period of management of some ports which belong to the Turkey Maritime Organization Joint-Stock Company and the Directorate General of State Railways Transportation Company and whose operating rights were previously privatized may be extended to 49 years.

If a decision of extension is taken, a collateral contract will be signed between the parties and the contract price will be set by at least two institutions authorized to do valuation as per the Capital Market Law.

The same legislative proposal has also amended the Law on Regulating Retail Market. This legal amendment has increased the fines imposed for the activities that cause shortages in the market and undermine market equilibrium and free competition and prevent customers from accessing goods. While the lowest limit of fines foreseen by this law has been increased from 50 thousand to 100 thousand lira, the upper limit has been increased from 500 thousand to 2 million lira.

With this newly approved law, the execution proceedings to be initiated against the members of chambers and commodity exchanges for the amounts to be collected as per the Law on Chambers and Commodity Exchanges will be halted until December 31, 2023.

On the other hand, the requests of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and İYİ Party to amend the legislative proposal both at the Parliamentary commission and the General Assembly of the Parliament were rejected by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

In its dissenting opinion regarding the article on ports, the HDP underlined that the amendment to the related law would "cause the most strategic ports of Turkey to be managed by companies, including foreign ones, until 2046 at the earliest and until 2067 at the latest." (HA/SD)