Milli Gazete announced the work carried out under the cover of sugar imports to the public with the headline news on April 1st.
Turkey will pay for the wrong sugar privatizations with sugar imports.
Before the sugar factories were privatized, the sugar market was completely under the control of the public, while Turkey Sugar Factories (TÜRKŞEKER) determined sugar prices, beet purchase prices and all decisions.
However, with the sale of 10 sugar factories due to the wrong privatization policy made in 2018, TÜRKŞEKER lost all its power in the sugar market.
Even private and cooperative factories began to determine sugar prices independently of TÜRKŞEKER.
While this raises a great void in the sugar market, the reason for the sugar import decision taken by the Ministry of Agriculture lies in the emptiness experienced in the sector.
Currently, Turkey has enough sugar to last until September.
According to the information received from the sector officials, there are 630 tons of sugar in the stocks of the cooperatives and private factories, especially TÜRKŞEKER.
WHY IMPORTING SUGAR WHILE STOCK IS FULL OF SUGAR?
Why did the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry decide to import sugar even though Turkey has enough sugar for September?
According to the information received, it is noted that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry allowed sugar imports in order to prevent the astronomical increase in sugar prices.
The decision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to import sugar against increasing sugar prices reveals the mistake of sugar factories that were unconsciously privatized in 2018.
UNQUALIFIED MANAGERS PREPARED THE GROUND FOR IMPORT
On the other hand, the management of TÜRKŞEKER by unqualified managers also led Turkey to sugar imports.
While TÜRKŞEKER General Manager Mücahit Alkan left his main job aside and donated the resources of the institution with the help of TÜRKŞEKER, the wrong price policies applied disrupted all the balances in the sugar market.
Despite increasing input costs, TÜRKŞEKER did not update sugar prices for months, causing private and cooperative factories to set arbitrary prices.
While this caused the prices of sugar to increase 5-6 times, it became impossible to find sugar in the market, especially the manufacturers.
While the Ministry put pressure on private and cooperative factories to decrease sugar prices, the desired result could not be obtained.
As the exchange rates started to rise again, the price of 1 sack of sugar rose to 1200 liras, upsetting all the balances in the sugar market.
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE ANNOUNCED WITH AN ANNOUNCEMENT AT MIDNIGHT
Turkey will import sugar for the first time in 24 years. While Turkey has not been importing sugar within the scope of A since 1998, studies have also been initiated for sugar imports on the grounds of price movements in the market.
Milli Gazete shared with the public the work carried out under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on sugar imports, with the headline news "Sugar imports after a quarter of a century" published on April 1.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officially announced the import of sugar with a statement made at midnight the previous night, while the public learned about the work carried out secretly on the import of sugar from the Milli Gazete for the first time.
VAHİT KİRİŞCI WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY!
The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Vahit Kirişçi, will go down in history with the decision to import sugar.
Turkey has not been importing sugar under A since 1998. With this import decision, Vahit Kirişçi will be the first Minister of Agriculture to import sugar during the AKP governments.