ANKARA, Nov 19 (AFP) - Turkey plans to calls for bids for 55 percent of Turk Telekom in a fresh effort to kickstart its long-delayed privatisation, a senior official said Friday.
Metin Kilci, the head of the state privatisation board, told NTV television that authorities hoped to launch the tender by the end of November.
"Nine or ten very well prepared companies have contacted us on the issue," Kilci said. "We see there is sufficient interest, but it would be wrong to say this interest will reflect" the final level of potential bids.
Turk Telekom, which has about 19 million subscribers and employs some 61,000 people, has been slated for privatisation for years but the project has failed to take off either because of political wrangling or unfavorable market conditions.
Privatization is a key element in a strict economic program Turkey agreed to in 2002 with the International Monetary Fund following a severe financial crisis.
11/19/2004 15:28 GMT - AFP