Turkey: PPP Features And Privatization Highlights

Turkey Receives $3.45 bln In Privatization Of Four State-Owned Power Grids

Turkey collects $3.45bln through privatization of four power grids, the last four on sale in a series of auctions to privatize the country's entire electricity distribution network. The privatization of four electricity distributor companies Ayedaş, Toroslar, Van Gölü and Dicle that took place on March 15, raised $3.45 billion, almost $3 billion of it coming from Enerjisa, which won the tender for the two largest grids.

The highest offer in the tender for Toroslar grid, the network in southern Turkey, was made by Enerjisa with $1.725 billion and the company also placed the highest bid of $1.227 billion for the AYEDAS grid in Istanbul's Asian side. Enerjisa raised the number of its grids to three after these sales, as it is already the operator of Başkent Elektrik, the electricity provider of a region comprising seven cities including the Turkish capital of Ankara. Turkerler Insaat, another bidder in today's tenders, won the auction for the Vangolu grid in eastern Turkey with $118 million, and Iskaya Dogu OGG, made the highest offer with $387 million for the Dicle network in southeast Turkey. The companies need approval from Turkey's privatization authority before they could take over operating rights of the power grids.

Istanbul Salipazari Cruise Port Privatization

Istanbul Salipazari Port Area owned by Turkiye Denizcilik Isletmeleri A.S. will be privatized for 30 years through the method of "Grant of Operation Right" within the scope of the provisions of the Law numbered 4046. The tender will be realized by the bargaining method. If the Tender Commission deems necessary, the tender process may be finalized through a public auction with the participation of the bidders with whom the bargaining negotiations are still in process. It is mandatory to deliver the bids by hand to the address of the Administration until 17:00 on the last bidding date which is 30 April 2013. In order to participate in the tender, it is mandatory to sign the Confidentiality Undertaking (by the person/persons authorized to represent and bind the legal entity or the members of the joint venture group), to deposit the Tender Document price to accounts of the Administration and to deliver the Confidentiality Undertaking signed by the person/persons authorized to represent and bind the legal entity or the members of the joint venture group to the Administration by hand and to receive the Tender Document by hand to the address of the Administration.

Salıpazarı Cruise Port is the only operating cruise port of Istanbul and it is one of the major destinations preferred by the major cruise liners, as a result the port is among the top 10 mostly preferred ports in the Mediterranean Region. Salıpazarı Cruise Port served more than 600,000 tourists as the entrance gate to Turkey in 2011.

Işkaya Doğu Joint Venture Offers $387 million for Dicle Electricity Distribution Company

The İşkaya Doğu joint venture has offered the highest bid $387 million for the privatization of Dicle Elektrik, the electricity distributor operating in Turkey's south eastern provinces. Final bargaining on the tender that was composed of 100 percent of Dicle Elektrik shares has starting price of $226 million and a minimum increment amount of $1 million. A total of six companies attended the final bargaining meeting which was headed by Ibrahim Halil Kirsan, deputy President of Turkey's Privatization Administration.

Limak Construction company was disqualified in the first round and Fina Energy-Fina Porting OGG was disqualified in the second round. Remaining four companies, Calik Energy company, Mes company-Iskur company OGG, Fernas Construction company, and Iskaya Dogu OGG were short listed for the auction process. Fernas Construction company withdrew at the first round of the open bidding while Mes company-Iskur company OGG withdrew at the 37th round. Finally, Calik Energy company withdrew at the 44th round and Iskaya Dogu OGG became the company that made the highest bid with 386 million USD.

Dicle Elektrik has almost 1 million subscribers living in the south eastern cities of Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Batman, Siirt and Şırnak. The 100 per-cent of the Dicle Electricity Distribution Company's shares belong to Turkey's electricity distribution company (TEDAS).

Turkey's ÖYK Authorizes Privatization Tenders of Electricity Distribution Firms

According to a statement in the official gazete, Turkey's Supreme Privatization Board(ÖYK) has approved tenders for the privatization of state-owned Electricity Distribution Firms Boğaziçi, Akdeniz, Gediz and Aras.

ÖYK has permitted the sale of Boğaziçi Electricity Distribution Firm (BEDAŞ) to The Cengiz-Kolin-Limak consortium. The consortium had sub-mitted a $1.96 billion bid in the tender, that was held on December 14,2012 for the sale of 100 percent state-owned BEDAŞ. The same consortium had also made the highest bid with $546 million. ÖYK has also approved the sale of Gediz Electricity Distribution Firm to Elsan-Tümaş-Karaçay OGG. The consortium had won the tender held on December 19, with a bid of $1.231 billion. ÖYK has also affirmed the sale of Aras Electricity Distribution Firm to Kiler Shopping Services Company who has submitted $128,5 million in the tender held on September 25, 2008.

Turkey Kicks-Off Tender Process for its Fatih Project Tablets

The Turkish Education Ministry is going to start tender process for buying at least 10.6 million tablet PCs as part of its Fatih project to distribute in schools. The Fatih Project, aimed at raising the quality of education in public schools through increasing computerization, has become a "matter of prestige" for the IT industry's well-known brands, making their headquarters to issue instructions to their regional offices in Turkey to step up efforts. At least 30 IT companies including Samsung, Nokia, Intel and Sony have expressed interest in the project.

According the Ministry the conditions required for participation in the tender will be conducted on April 29. Under Fatih Project the government will purchase approximately 10.6 million tablets for students, administrative employees and teachers. The bidders have to guarantee that they will have service stations in all seven regions of Turkey. "The production of tablets should be in Turkey and the producing company should establish a research and development center in Turkey," Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergün told. He further added that the government also considered it important for applications to be developed with open source software so that the codes could be made available to the public. Microsoft and Apple are also competing in the tender. "As part of Fatih, we're working on establishing the first re-search and development laboratory in Turkey," Microsoft Turkey General Manager Tamer Özmen said on this occassion.

Turkish Government to Improve Railroads Facilities before Privatization

According to Turkish State Railways (TCDD) broad plan, the government will spend 20 billion liras in three years to refine Turkish railroads facilities before inviting the private firms. Prior to privatization, the General Directorate of Turkish State Railways (TCDD) plans to spend 20.3 billion liras on vehicle repairs, production, and railroad and naval transportation, between 2013 and 2015. A draft code which was presented to Parliament last month, aims to establish a company under the name of the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) Transport AŞ for train management units, and also to empower third parties to build their own railway infrastructure and to become infrastructure operators on these railways. The investments will accelerate further in up-coming years, with amounts almost doubling in 2014 and 2015, reaching al-most 8 billion liras annually. The rise will primarily be due to increases in direct railroad investments.

Tender Pre-Qualification Result Announcement Eskişehir City Hospital

The pre-qualification tender for Work of Construction Works and the Provision of Products and Services for Eskişehir City Hospital had been performed on 28.09.2012. The list of the qualified bidders is as follows;

QUALIFIED BIDDERS

Bid Date Postponement (TPHA+TPMDA)

The Bid Date for the Work of Construction Works and the Provision of Pro-ducts and Services for the campus of Turkish Public Health Agency & Turkish Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency is changed to 17.05.2013 on 15:00.

Dutch Auction Result for Isparta City Hospital.

Dutch auction of Work of Construction Works and the Provision of Products and Services for Isparta City Hospital was held on 22.02.2012 and the most advantageous bidder is Akfen İnş. Tur. Ve Tic. A.Ş. Detailed examination on finance model, project proposal etc. of Akfen İnş. Tur. Ve Tic. A.Ş. was initiated by the tender commission and tender process is still ongoing.

Originally published March 2013.

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