Cukurova Group Reaches Agreement With T.M.S.F.

ANKARA (CIHAN) - The Turkish Savings and Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) and the Cukurova Group signed an agreement on Wednesday for the early repayment of money owed to the TMSF-seized Pamukbank.
The Turkish Banking Regulatory and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and the Cukurova Group had agreed on July 20 to a restructuring of the debts which the Cukurova Group owes to Pamukbank and to an earlier repayment than had been previously foreseen.
The TMSF issued a statement on Wednesday stating that an additional agreement has been signed concerning the conditions announced on July 20, 2004 by Cukurova. According to this agreement, the 3.2 billion dollars debt repayment over 15 years announced by the Cukurova Group has been decreased to 2.1 billion dollars over 13 months.
The Cukurova Group will repay only 75 million dollars to the TMS this year. Buying and selling operations between Cukurova and the Yapý Kredi Bank will continue until the end of 2004. The group will repay the lion's share - 1.5 billion dollars - of its debt to the TMSF in 2005. The annual interest rate will be set at 10.7 percent. Cukurova will repay the remaining 525 million dollars of its debts to the TMSF by March 31, 2006.