Turkey's Tüpra? faces $69 mln hit from tax demand, fines

Turkey?s sole oil refiner Tüpra? has said it faces a tax demand and related fines totaling 160 million liras ($69 million) following an 18-month investigation by authorities.

The demand for 65.6 million liras and fines of 94.4 million liras date from 2009 to 2013, the company said in a filing with the stock exchange.

?We plan to utilize all of our legal rights including negotiations,? Tüpra?, owned by Turkey?s biggest group Koç Holding, added in the statement late on Jan. 8.

A Tüpra? official declined to comment further.

In the past, tax fines levied on companies have been reduced sharply after negotiations. Shares in Tüpra?, which is based in Kocaeli province, dipped 0.88 percent to 56.05 liras on Jan. 9 morning, while the broader index was slightly higher.

The tax investigation began in July 2013, when police and finance ministry inspectors raided the offices of Tüpra? and Aygaz, Turkey?s biggest seller of liquefied petroleum gas, also owned by Koç - and checked their physical inventories.

The family owns five of Turkey?s 10 largest companies, and then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an expressed anger with the Koç-run Divan Hotel for opening its doors to protesters fleeing police tear gas. The hotel said at the time that it acted humanely and the accusations of backing the protests were unfair.

Erdo?an - elected president in 2014 - last month attended a ceremony for a $3 billion upgrade of the Tüpra? refinery, one of Turkey?s largest-ever industrial investments, leading to speculation the two sides had made amends.

Tüpra? has faced official penalties in the past. In 2014, the competition board fined it 412 million lira for abusing its dominant market position in pricing and contracts. It was...