Tirana, June 23 (AENews) – The Albanian government on Thursday signed a contract with a Turkish consortium for the sale of 76 percent of the Albanian state phone company Albtelecom Sh.A. in a deal worth EUR 120 million (US$151 million), the government said.

Albanian Minister of Economy Anastas Angjeli signed the contract with Calik Enerji Telekomunikasyon a.S, a consortium consisting of Calik Enerji and Turk Telekom, that won the international tender last month.

Calik Enerji was the only international company offering to buy Albtelecom. Ten other companies – from Slovenia, South Korea, the United States, Kuwait and Ireland – had expressed interest earlier but did not submit bids.

Albtelecom, which the government valued at some EUR 145 million (US$183 million) last January, is the only fixed-line telephone company in the country that also owns a mobile phone operator license.

The media in Albania has been complaining about this process all along because the government has not revealed any details about the contract except its price.

The contract is expected to receive final approval by the government and by the new parliament after the July 3 parliamentary elections.

Albania is in the process of privatizing state-owned companies. In December 2003, it sold the Savings Bank of Albania to Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank.