Marfin Popular Bank yesterday said it was in talks with an insurance group, which it did not identify, on forging a strategic alliance to develop its insurance business. The group was responding to media reports in Cyprus that it was in talks with European financial groups, including Dutch insurance group Eureko, on cooperating in Balkan markets. “The group is discussing and examining the possibility of a strategic alliance with an international insurance group to develop its insurance operations in all countries where it has a presence,” Marfin stated. (Reuters)

Ankara will cut the country’s telecommunications taxes, the highest in the world, during its second term in office, said Transport and Communications Minister Ismet Yilmaz. Temporary tax measures were introduced in Turkey following a 1999 earthquake, Yilmaz said. Those taxes were never removed, giving Turkey telecommunication taxes of 60 percent. (Reuters)

Turkey’s Competition Board has given conditional approval for the sale of Turkish chewing gum firm Intergum to Britain’s Cadbury Schweppes Plc, a Cadbury unit stated yesterday. The consent was conditional on the sale of the Nazar brand owned by Turkish confectionery company Kent Gida, in which Cadbury has a 95.4 percent stake. (Reuters)