The Turkish Council of State has rejected demands by the Petrol-Is union, representing workers in the country’s oil industry, to block the sale of state-owned chemicals company Petkim (Aliaga; www.petkim.com.tr). The court had suspended the sale of the company in December 2007 after Petrol-Is challenged the deal.

It has been reported that the country’s privatisation administration has informed regional consortium TransCentral Asia Petrochemical Holding, which won the bidding for the controlling stake in Petkim in July 2007 (see Plasteurope.com of 11.07.2007, that it has 45 days to complete the deal, which will give it a 51% share in the country’s largest petrochemical producer. Petkim will retain 10% ownership while the remaining shares will be floated on the Turkish stock exchange.