TRIPOLI — Prime Minister Ali Zidan has said that Libya
is poised to hand over some $10 billion, around half the outstanding
contract payments owed to Turkish contractors. Moreover the country was
prepared to pay compensation for projects these firms had had to abandon
at the revolution.
However the deal is conditional on Turkish firms returning to these suspended projects. As work on each resumes, Zidan said that the contractors would receive half of what they were due, with the remainder to be paid in two 25 percent payments, dependent on progress.
The announcement came after Zidan’s meeting in Ankara Thursday with his Turkish opposite number Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At this encounter Zidan made the commitment to expedite the settlement process, while also holding out the opportunity for Turkish construction companies to win major new projects, as Libya rebuilds its infrastructure.
“Some Turkish firms suffered because of the war and of course we want to pay any damages, “ he said.
“Libya has just gone through a period of devastating war. We are very serious on the debt subject. We know what the problem is and we are going to take it up seriously,” he said, according to the Anatolian Press Agency. At a joint press conference Erdogan confirmed that Zidan had said his government would “solve the issues about progress payments and compensation with our ministers. We have said we wish our construction companies to go back to Libya to complete their unfinished projects. We are pleased to see the same desire from Libya.”
Zidan described the relationship between Libya and Turkey as “privileged”. He said that his talks with Erdogan had also touched on energy cooperation between the state-owned Turkish Petroleum Company and the Libyan NOC which, he said, shared the same vision.
The Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, who had also been part of the meetings and spoke at the press conference, said that he “had faith” that the debts owed to some 100 Turkish firms for projects commissioned in the Gaddafi era, would be paid.
More than 3,000 Turkish nationals evacuated Libya in February 2011. Although companies have sent back a number of employees to assess stalled projects and assist in the calculation of likely compensation claims, there has been a general reluctance to resume any major work, until it was clear that real progress had been made on back payments. — Libya Herald
However the deal is conditional on Turkish firms returning to these suspended projects. As work on each resumes, Zidan said that the contractors would receive half of what they were due, with the remainder to be paid in two 25 percent payments, dependent on progress.
The announcement came after Zidan’s meeting in Ankara Thursday with his Turkish opposite number Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At this encounter Zidan made the commitment to expedite the settlement process, while also holding out the opportunity for Turkish construction companies to win major new projects, as Libya rebuilds its infrastructure.
“Some Turkish firms suffered because of the war and of course we want to pay any damages, “ he said.
“Libya has just gone through a period of devastating war. We are very serious on the debt subject. We know what the problem is and we are going to take it up seriously,” he said, according to the Anatolian Press Agency. At a joint press conference Erdogan confirmed that Zidan had said his government would “solve the issues about progress payments and compensation with our ministers. We have said we wish our construction companies to go back to Libya to complete their unfinished projects. We are pleased to see the same desire from Libya.”
Zidan described the relationship between Libya and Turkey as “privileged”. He said that his talks with Erdogan had also touched on energy cooperation between the state-owned Turkish Petroleum Company and the Libyan NOC which, he said, shared the same vision.
The Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, who had also been part of the meetings and spoke at the press conference, said that he “had faith” that the debts owed to some 100 Turkish firms for projects commissioned in the Gaddafi era, would be paid.
More than 3,000 Turkish nationals evacuated Libya in February 2011. Although companies have sent back a number of employees to assess stalled projects and assist in the calculation of likely compensation claims, there has been a general reluctance to resume any major work, until it was clear that real progress had been made on back payments. — Libya Herald
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