Turkey's gas sales drop by nearly 75 pct amid COVID-19 outbreak

Turkey's gas stations have lost 60 to 75 percent of sales during the COVID-19 outbreak, daily Sözcü reported April 8. Limitations on intercity bus travels have furthered victimized petroleum workers in Turkey, Union of Gas Station, Petroleum and Gas Employers said.

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Turkey's gas stations have lost 60 to 75 percent of sales during the COVID-19 outbreak, daily Sözcü reported April 8.

Turkey is home to some 250,000 workers of some 13,000 gas stations, Turkey's Union of Gas Station, Petroleum and Gas Employers (TABGIS) Chair Ferruh Temel Zülfikar said.

"We don't force our employees to go on unpaid leave, we started out with paid leave," Zülfikar said.

TABGIS has also made a request to shut down gas stations at night during the coronavirus outbreak, which they're waiting to hear back about, Zülfikar added.

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Turkey's limitations on intercity travel have further victimized gas and petroleum workers, Zülfikar noted, with gas station grocery stores losing some 60 percent of business as well.

"[Although] some people choose gas station stores for some products if they want to avoid the crowd in a grocery store," Zülfikar said.

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