Page 104 - TURKRptJun19

Turkish Airlines expects compensation from Boeing Co for losses caused by the grounding of 12 737 Max aircraft, the flagship carrier’s chairman was quoted as saying by state-run Anadolu news agency on May 21.
● Others
Some of the owners of the joint venture that operates Istanbul’s giant new airport have hired Lazard to sell their stake in the $11bn flight hub, people with knowledge of the matter have told Bloomberg. The move just weeks after the mega airport was opened might sit uncomfortably with government boasts that the flagship infrastructure is a symbol of the strength and power of Turkey and its economy. The news also comes shortly after reports suggesting that Italy’s Astaldi has relaunched talks to sell its 33.35% stake in Istanbul’s Third Bosphorus Bridge. Officials are ambitious to see Istanbul Airport to become the world’s busiest airport within a few years. Once fully completed (in 2027 if all goes to plan) at its location north of Istanbul by the Black Sea, it would have the capacity to handle 200mn passengers a year. The US investment bank is working with some members of the IGA consortium to provide a valuation of the airport and manage discussions with potential buyers, the sources said. IGA was founded by five local companies, namely Kalyon, Cengiz, Mapa, and Limak, in 2013 to construct and operate Istanbul Airport for 25 years. Kalyon now has a 35% stake and Cengiz a 25% holding after Kolin Insaat sold its 20% stake earlier this year. Limak and Mapa each retain a 20% stake.
Vinci SA, Aeroports de Paris and its Turkish unit TAV Havalimanlari Holding, and Ferrovial SA are among interested parties, two of the people reportedly said. TAV-operated Ataturk Airport, Turkey’s previous main international airport, was closed to commercial flights after the mega airport fully opened in April after several months of delays.
IGA has the biggest corporate debt load in Turkey after borrowing around €5.7bn ($6.4bn). Payments over the 25-year lease to operate the airport total €22.1bn, or €1.1bn a year, Bloomberg reported. The high cost of the lease to operate the new airport is likely to deter potential buyers, according to one of the contacted parties. "The market is not likely to welcome the news given the scale of the concession payments of the airport and heavy leverage,” said Deniz Invest, an Istanbul-based brokerage, in an emailed comment on TAV Havalimanlari’s interest in the deal.
EBRD helps finance Turkey’s first privately run inland railport. The new $86mn project is being developed by Turkey’s Arkas Holding, a logistics firm that integrates sea, land, rail and air transportation, and Duisport, Germany’s full-service provider in the logistics sector. It will be partly financed with two loans, each of $30mn, from the EBRD and ICBC Turkey. The ‘Arkas’ railport facility will be built in Kocaeli province, a big industrial centre. The terminal area will occupy 26.5 hectares. In the first phase of the project, the railport will handle 105,000 TEUs (the TEU is a twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard industry measure for containers) and 500,000 tonnes of general cargo. Warehouse storage capacity will run to 5,000 sqm.
Global transport and logistics company DSV has moved into a new logistics facility in Istanbul, consolidating all its warehouse operations in the location, the American Journal of Transportation reported on May 8. Boasting a total of 45,000 square metres for open and closed warehousing operations including 2,000 sqm of offices and a total of 6,000 square metres of bonded warehousing, the facility is located in Istanbul’s Tuzla vicinity, known as the logistics centre of Turkey. It is surrounded by several industrial zones including chemical, FMCG and automotive and port, airport, road network and rail options are nearby.
Russian Railways and Azerbaijan Railways have signed a memorandum on developing a co-operative strategy facilitating the creation of Eurasian
104 TURKEY Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com