The speech of Peter Reitz, CEO of European Energy Exchange (EEX), who made a speech at the opening ceremony of the Power Futures Market, is as follows.

Thank you very much, dear Minister Dönmez, dear President Yılmaz, ladies and gentlemen.

This is a true pleasure and a great honor for me to speak to you on this special occasion of the launch of the EPİAŞ power futures market today.

I’d like to thank Ahmet as the CEO of the Energy Exchange Istanbul for his kind invitation and the opportunity to take part in this ceremony, which I was very happy to accept.

First of all, let me congratulate Energy Exchange Istanbul for the spark of this power futures market.

As the CEO of one large power exchange, I know that setting up a new market from scratch means enormous effort and needs a lot of determination.

But I also know that setting up a futures market is an incredible, important milestone in the development of a power market.

First of all because it means that you have already done a good job in having developed a well-functioning spot market which now serves as the underlying for the futures market, as we have just heard Ahmet reporting.

Secondly, the futures market is the next level on the journey to a fully-fledged power market.

From our own experience, I can tell you that futures markets are really a game changer, having the potential to create new economic momentum.

Long term price visibility and price transparency are the preconditions to attract a broad variety of market participants, including financial players and thereby creating a new investment climate for energy infrastructure.

At EEX, we strongly believe in the advantages of liberalized energy markets and the value that organized marketplaces have for market participants, especially in terms of risk management. And we are very happy to have been able to contribute to the Turkish energy market as well. There has been a long-lasting relationship with our colleagues from the Energy Exchange Istanbul basically since its foundation, for almost a decade.

We are very happy to share our own experience and advice in the various power markets that we operate globally. And we are happy that our small contribution may have also been a small piece that led to the successful launch of the Turkish power futures market today.

As power markets are becoming more and more usual, common commodity markets, they are also getting more international. So, there’s great potential also for the Turkish power market to grow and attract new market participants.

We are happy to support you in any further plans that you may have.

As you all know, this pandemic situation we have been facing for more than a year now has created big uncertainties; both for us personally, but also economically as a whole. However, the good news is that trading on exchanges has proven to be stable and reliable also in these times of big uncertainty and in times of big volatility in markets.

The economy and the market participants as a whole understand that it is so important to hedge risks both in the short as well as in the long end in the curve.

The current situation has shown the value of exchanges, and especially futures markets, providing a safe haven for all market participants in these uncertain times.

Again, thank you very much for your kind invitation. I wish EPİAŞ and the Energy Exchange Istanbul all the best for the stock and the development of the new Turkish power futures market.

Thank you very much.

[Show slideshow]