Category: Business

Istanbul tunnel link scheme to get underway

A $1.4bn tunnel project connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul is set to get underway as the project achieved its financial close.

The 5.4km Avrasya Tuneli project will see a 5.4km-long tunnel built under the Bosporus Strait with a view to alleviating traffic on two existing bridges. It will be built at 25m below sea level and will entail the building of around 14.6km of roads in total, including toll plazas, an operations building and approach roads linking the European side of the city to an existing motorway network at Kadikoy on the Asian side.

The tunnel is being built by ATAS – a consortium between Turkish contractor Yapi Merkezi and Korean construction giant SK Engineering & Construction.

It has been funded by a $150m from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a $350m loan from the European Investment Bank and financing from banks including Korea’s Eximbank and K-Sure with Standard Chartered, SMBC and Mizuho also participating. A hedging facility is also being provided by Deutsche Bank.

Engineering consultancy Arup has been acting as lender’s representative on the deal and will monitor the project’s progress. Director Koray Etöz said: “We are very pleased to have played a part in bringing this hugely important project to fruition.

“The road tunnel will bring tremendous benefits right in the heart of Istanbul, easing congestion and reinforcing trade links, so it is great that we now have all the key elements in place to get the works started. We have taken a huge step forward and we look forward to continue working with the project team to ensure that Istanbul gets a key asset securely delivered in 2017.”

via Istanbul tunnel link scheme to get underway | ConstructionWeekOnline.com.

April 15, 2013
Iranian companies in Istanbul expo receive foreign offers

Several companies of foreign countries have called for signing contracts with Iranian companies participating in Istanbul exhibition, an Iranian official said, IRNA reported.

Managing Director of Iran Khodroˈs Special Cooperative Office in Turkey Kambiz Mir-Karimi made the remarks in an exclusive interview with IRNA on Sunday.

He described the participation of Iranˈs auto spare parts company in International Auto Spare Parts Exhibition in Istanbul as positive and constructive.

ˈAlthough one day is still remaining to the end of exhibition, several Egyptian, Tunisian, Turkish and Moroccan companies after visiting the pavilions of Iranian spare parts manufacturers have called for signing cooperation pacts with them,ˈ Mir-Karimi said.

Istanbulˈs International Automechanika Exhibition is held every year and it is one of Turkeyˈs important specialized exhibitions.

A total of 40 countries had participated in exhibition last year and more than 36,000 people from 100 countries visited the exhibition last year.

A total of 28 industrial companies from Iran have taken part in Istanbul exhibition this year.

via Iranian companies in Istanbul expo receive foreign offers – Trend.Az.

April 15, 2013
Greek Attaché in Istanbul Wants Free Time

The Greek Education and Culture Attaché in Istanbul, Stauros Gioltzoglou, in a shot at Germans who want Greeks to work harder – although statistics show they work more than their German counterparts already – said there’s more to life than just work.

“Are we here in this world just to work?” he asked and continued saying “We live for 60-70 years, at most 80 years, let’s say”, to complain about the lack of leisure time in today’s society. According to a press statement from the University, while criticizing Germans he said: “Germans say Greeks are lazy. They work 330 days and come to our country on vacation for 30 days. Will I work for bankers? Where else could I find a pleasure like drinking a coffee with a Turkish friend on the Bosphorus?”

As hurriyetdailynews reports, Mr. Gioltzoglou wasn’t ready to comment regarding that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become a “hate figure” in Greece because of the tough austerity measures imposed on Greece in return for promised loans and debt relief.

“Some 120,000 people demonstrated in Greece when Gen. Kenan Evren staged a coup in 1980. Democracy in the grass roots of Greece”, the Greek Attaché said regarding the strikes and the demonstrations organized by the Greek people.

Stauros Gioltzoglou referred to his surname origins, saying that it comes from his grandfather in the northern city of Samsun, who had migrated during a population exchange.

April 14, 2013
Turkey’s Ziraat says working to set up Islamic bank

(Reuters) – Ziraat Bank, Turkey’s largest state-run lender, is planning an Islamic bank, known locally as a “participation bank”, and would consider going into partnership with a foreign lender, General Manager Huseyin Aydin.

After proceeding slowly with the development of Islamic finance for years, partly because of the sensitivities of its secular political system, Turkey has recently begun to tap the sector, issuing its first sovereign sukuk last September.

The development of Turkey’s sukuk, or Islamic bond, market is of interest to countries around the world, since Turkey’s fast-growing economy could become a major issuer of Islamic debt and influence trends throughout the industry.

“Ziraat Bank is working towards establishing a participation bank, we have set some people to work on this subject. This bank will be established as a separate bank,” Aydin said late on Friday.

The bank had so far not received a partnership request for the venture but that they would be open to talks.

“If there is a request we will consider it. However, there cannot be a situation where we are not in control. It would have to be a system where we are the majority shareholder, a system that we can direct,” he said.

Because of political sensitivities, and to adhere to local law, Islamic banks in Turkey describe themselves as participation banks and sukuk are described as participation certificates, a reference to the fact that instead of paying investors interest, they pay returns on a pool of assets.

There are currently four participation banks operating in Turkey: Albaraka Turk, Bank Asya, Kuveyt Turk and Turkiye Finans. Kuveyt Turk, a unit of Kuwait Finance House, issued the country’s first sukuk in 2010.

After Turkey’s landmark September issue of a $1.5 billion sukuk, which drew massive demand, it has now issued three sukuk, two of them lira-denominated totalling 3.14 billion lira ($ 1.75 billion) and one dollar-denominated worth $ 1.5 billion.

Turkey is now also working on new regulations to allow wider use of Islamic bonds, which could see sukuk issues employed by the government and corporations for project finance and infrastructure development.

Ziraat is Turkey’s largest state-run bank and its second- largest by assets after Is Bank, with 162.9 billion lira ($90 billion) in assets. Its net profit rose 26 percent last year to 2.65 billion lira.

General Manager Aydin told Reuters in February the bank was being prepared for a possible IPO although there was no final decision on the timing of a sale. Sources close to the matter have said up to a quarter of the bank could be sold next year in what Ziraat hopes will be one of Turkey’s biggest stock market listings. (Reporting by Ebru Tuncay; Writing by Jonathon Burch; editing by Ron Askew)

via Turkey’s Ziraat says working to set up Islamic bank | Reuters.

April 14, 2013
Many Turkish companies have decided to invest in FYR Macedonia

Many Turkish companies have decided to invest in FYR Macedonia

Many Turkish companies have decided to invest in FYR Macedonia, Minister for Foreign Investment in FYR Macedonia Bill Pavleski said during the Economy Forum within the scope of the 16th Eurasia Economy Summit in Istanbul on April 10.
The foreign investments in the country have increased significantly, said the minister, adding that his country overcame the global economic crisis thanks to its sound banking system.
“Our financial indicators managed to remain balanced during the global economic crisis,” he said. “Our inflation rate has been under 3 percent for the past seven years.”
Speaking at the same event, Montenegro’s Deputy Prime Minister Vujica Lazovic said that his country was an EU candidate, and prioritized the integration process.
“There are important opportunities for investors in Montenegro, said Lazovic, adding that although his country was a young one, it had gained a significant economic experience in recent years. “We grew 2.5 percent during the 2009 economic crisis, and 3.2 percent in 2011,” he said.
Jordan’s Senate President Taher Masri, for his part, said that the country was watching the Turkish economy with pride. “There are winners and losers in economic aspects, and Turkey is among the winners,” said Masri. Source; Hurriyet

April 14, 2013
ESB International signs €30m Turkish deal

John McSweeney, head of Innovation at ESB, Serdar Bilgiç, head of energy generation at Unit and Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore T.D pictured at the announcement that ESB International has won its first contract in Turkey valued at ¤30 million.

Colm Keena

ESB International has entered into a €30 million, six-year partnership with Turkish investment company Unit in the State-owned company’s first venture in the growing economy.

The 50-50 joint venture deal was announced at a ceremony in Istanbul yesterday attended by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore, who is leading a trade mission to the country.

Power station

The operation and maintenance of the Yeni Elektrik power station, south west of Istanbul, is a large milestone in the development of ESB International in Turkey, said ESB head of innovation, John McSweeney. “This is our first project in Turkey and we are hoping to develop new opportunities here in the future with our partners,” he said.

The ESB has set itself the objective of doubling its income from its foreign operations over the coming five years and, with that in mind, has opened offices in Turkey, Singapore and South Africa.

The rapidly growing Turkish market is expected to see energy demands grow by about 6 per cent per year over the coming period, creating considerable opportunity for those involved in the energy sector. The Ankara government has ambitious plans to dramatically increase renewable energy production, financed by private investment, as well as to invest in a large number of conventional power plants.

Energy demands

Addressing the ceremony in Istanbul, Mr Gilmore said ESB International had the skills required to help Turkey to meet its fast-increasing energy demands and he wished the company every success.

ESB International also announced it had completed a major stage in an energy project it is managing in Tanzania, with the switching on of a new 132kV submarine interconnector from the African country to Zanzibar. The development more than doubles the transmission capacity currently available.

Only 15 per cent of the Tanzanian population is connected to the energy grid. A $200 million (€153 million) project, funded by the US, is targetting the development of power transmission in Tanzania and ESB International’s work there is part of that project.

via ESB International signs €30m Turkish deal – Business News | Latest News Stories | The Irish Times – Thu, Apr 11, 2013.

April 13, 2013