UPDATE - COVID-19: Turkey suspends gasoline ethanol requirement

REVISED HEADLINE, DECK; UPDATED WITH MORE REMARKS FROM THE MINISTER

By Sevgi Ceren Gokkoyun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has temporarily scrapped the requirement to include ethanol in gasoline in a bid to boost disinfectant production in the country to help stem the coronavirus outbreak, the country's industry and technology minister said on Friday.

"The obligation to mix 3% ethanol into gasoline is suspended for three months. Thus, the ethanol demand of refineries will decrease," Mustafa Varank said.

The move aims to help meet ethanol needs to boost the production of disinfectant and Turkish cologne (kolonya).

Cologne is a traditional ethanol-based scented disinfectant in Turkey.

The strategic decision by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority's (EMRA), valid through June 13, will also prevent price speculation, Varank added.

As an important import input of the country, ethanol can be produced in Turkey's sugar factories, he said.

"We will now be able to utilize domestic capacity more effectively, instead of imports," Varan underlined.

After the first case was announced earlier this week, Turkey announced its second case of coronavirus – a person close to the first patient, who recently returned from Europe.

The country has taken several measures to contain the virus such as temporarily closing schools and universities, halting events and public activities, postponing foreign visits, barring spectators at sports events, and subjecting protective products to export controls.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 118 countries and territories.

The global death toll is now nearly 5,000, with more than 132,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has declared the outbreak a global pandemic.