, which reported a net loss of 44.9 billion Turkish lira ($1.27 billion) in 2024.){kind=link}
Turkey’s top state audit body has found regulatory violations in salary and benefit payments at the state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ), which reported a net loss of 44.9 billion Turkish lira ($1.27 billion) in 2024, according to an audit report submitted to parliament.
Auditors said BOTAŞ paid managers and senior staff shift fees that exceeded limits set by presidential decree and did not include the payments in mandatory salary cap calculations.
“Despite the decree clearly stating which payments must be included in limit calculations, paying personnel above the limit without including shift fees constitutes a regulatory violation,” the report said. Auditors said the fees could not be treated as overtime pay because “there is no actual overtime involved.”
The audit also identified “additional payments” to non-union staff even though regulations include no legal basis for such compensation. The payments were kept outside the gross salary limits that are set every six months by presidential decree. Auditors said 457 employees received child care assistance without a legal basis.
The Court of Accounts called for the payments to be terminated and the money to be recovered from recipients. It also said the company failed to obtain required opinions from the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and the Strategy and Budget Presidency on regulatory changes that affected expenses.
BOTAŞ received 155 billion Turkish lira ($3.9 billion) in duty loss compensation, or lost wage benefits, from the budget in the first 11 months of 2025, more than double the 66 billion Turkish lira paid in 2024, according to Treasury and Finance Ministry data.
BOTAŞ has reported losses for years as a result of a government policy that requires it to sell natural gas below cost as part of efforts to limit inflation. BOTAŞ’s 2024 financial statements showed sales costs of 735.9 billion Turkish lira exceeded revenue of 733.6 billion Turkish lira, meaning the company recorded losses before operating expenses. Turkey’s Energy Ministry says about 60 percent of household natural gas costs are covered by state subsidies.
BOTAŞ ranks second among Turkey’s state economic enterprises in duty loss compensation after the Electricity Generation Corporation (EÜAŞ).