Tender for country’s roads and bridges to be be canceled
The prime minister has made some top important statements regarding the tender for privatization of Turkey’s roads and bridges a short while ago.
In an interview on a prominent TV channel on February 1st Mr. Tayyip Erdoğan who obviously sounded unhappy with the result of the tender said;
“We will review the privatization offers, for example for the highways or bridges. We have much bigger expectations” referring to the tender which was the second highest privatization tender in the history of Turkey.
The tender was rewarded to a consortium of Koç Holding, Gözde Girişim and Malaysia’s UEM Group Berhad at a record bid of $5.72 billion, the second highest privatization tender in Turkish history.
Howwever based on the remarks made by the PM the privatization could be canceled by the government on account of the “low” figure for the winning tender – as deemed by the PM.
PM also added that he believed Turkey could attract significant funds into the country.
The referred tender was for a concession period of 25 years and included the Edirne-Istanbul-Ankara highway and the Bosphorus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges linking the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
It is reported by country’s highways agency that the toll roads and bridges generated revenue of 740 million Turkish Liras in the first 11 months of the previous year.
As for the winning consortium, Koç and Gözde Girişim hold 40 percent and 20 percent in the consortium respectively, while UEM Group holds a 40 percent equity stake. Gözde Girişim is owned by members of the Ülker family, who control the food giant Yıldız Holding.
It is understood from officials involved in the preparations of the process that a figure of less than 20 billion dollars would not be satisfactory for the administration. Erdoğan who did not personally participate in the process is recorded to have expressed his disappointment about the final figure, earlier as well.
It is likely that the Privatization Board of Turkey (ÖİB) will organize a special meeting in the coming days and announce a new tender according to experts.
04.02.2013
BTT, Editor
