The Socar Turkey subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s state oil firm is negotiating with Russian-owned Denizbank for a $1.7bn loan to complete the financing package for its planned Socar Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR) project at Aliaga on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. Socar Turkey originally estimated the total cost at $4.35bn, but recent reports put it at $5.5bn.

Socar earlier this month said the World Bank’s IFC and Europe’s EBRD had withdrawn from a consortium backing the STAR refinery with $3.5bn of funding and that it would seek a partner to replace them. The IFC/EBRD funding share was around $500mn. (CONTINUED - 737 WORDS)