(Prensa Latina, Moscow, 28 December 2017) Turkey will acquire, for 2.5 billion dollars, four divisions of the modern Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile divisions, which will be delivered in 2020. The finance ministries of Turkey and Russia have concluded negotiations for the granting of an export credit to Ankara, Chemezov head of the Russian state conglomerate Rostec said. Turkey will pay an advance equivalent to 45% of the total and the Russian side will grant an export credit that will cover the other 55% of the contract. Ankara [a NATO member] received strong criticism and even threats from the United States for its decision to acquire the Russian arms. In other Russian ECA news, four Iranian banks have signed an “unlimited finance deal” with the Eximbank of Russia for public and private sector approved projects using Russian technical and engineering services.
Turkey
Former Ex-Im Bank Director under investigation for undisclosed foreign agent contract
(Newsweek, Washington, 20 June 2017) Federal investigators probing the lobbying work of ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn are focused in part on the role of Bijan Kian, Flynn’s former business partner, according to a person interviewed by the FBI. In private conversations with potential clients, Kian portrayed himself as a rainmaker for Flynn, tapping into connections cultivated during a five-year tenure as a director at the U.S. Export-Import Bank, according to one person who worked with the firm. Inovo, a Netherlands-based company controlled by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin, hired Flynn Intel Group to research Fethullah Gulen’s activities in the United States, which he suspected were “poisoning” relations between the United States and Turkey. Like Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, Alptekin blamed the coup on followers of Gulen. Kian played a central role in securing and overseeing the Inovo contract, two people with knowledge of that project said. The FBI has been investigating whether Flynn’s consulting firm lobbied on behalf of Turkey – after being paid $530,000 by Inovo – without making the proper disclosure under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Merkel Mulls Revision of Hermes Support for Ankara as Two Germans Detained in Turkey
(Sputnik, Berlin, 3 September 2017) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that Berlin cannot stop the talks on Turkey’s accession, but it would impose economic punitive measures in response to arrests of German citizens… She added that Berlin could put pressure on Ankara in terms of its economy, in particular by issuing a stricter warning to those who wanted to visit the country and by introducing restrictions on loans from the European Central Bank, World Bank and Hermes export credit guarantees issued by the German government.
Germany is reviewing export credit guarantees for German companies doing business with Turkey
(Spiegel, Ankara, 1 August 2017) As Germany and Turkey struggle with the increasingly strained state of their relationship, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek stresses the two countries’ longstanding friendship in an interview with DER SPIEGEL. He also says it is Ankara’s duty to rid the state of terrorist elements. The German government has announced a change of course in its policy towards Turkey. For a start, it will be reviewing export credit guarantees for German companies doing business with Turkey. Simsek noted that “Germany is the leader of the EU. We take what Germany says seriously. But the reaction of the German government clearly appears to be based on false information.” Turkish authorities gave Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) a list of nearly 700 companies that supposedly support terrorism, including Daimler and BASF.
Turkey’s growing repression leads to review of German ECA guarantees
(The Telegraph, Berlin, 21 July 2017) Germany announced a series of hardline measures against Turkey on Thursday amid rapidly deteriorating relations between the two Nato partners. Sigmar Gabriel, the German foreign minister, accused the Turkish government of the “arbitrary” arrest of German citizens on its soil and demanded their immediate release. In a series of measures that could threaten the fragile Turkish economy, he issued tough new travel advice for Germans on visiting the country, and ordered a review of export credit guarantees for German companies investing in Turkey. He also said Germany would seek a review of €630m (£560m) of aid Turkey currently receives each year from the EU, and of Turkey’s partial membership of the customs union.
Turkey in ‘final phase’ of secretive Saudi arms export deal
(Defense News, Ankara, 3 May 2017) Turkey’s defense and procurement officials are expecting to finalize a large defense export contract with Saudi Arabia, but its contents will be kept top secret. Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik has said the defense export contract with Saudi Arabia will be the largest-ever single export deal for the Turkish industry… Turkey, he said, would launch a new export lending mechanism outside the scope of Eximbank loans in order to finance Turkish exports. Eximbank is a state-owned export credit bank in Turkey. The Minister said his government was working on a broad plan to boost Turkish defense and aerospace exports. He admitted that financing was often a major problem for potential markets.
ECAs and Coal in Turkey’s Energy and Climate Policies
(Sabanci University, Istanbul, Novermber 2015) A November 2015 report from the Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center recently translated to English addresses the current status of coal in Turkey as an energy and greenhouse gas source, its impacts on health, the association between increasing the share of coal in electricity generation and climate and economic policies, and the discussions on “clean coal.” The share of coal, oil, and gas in Turkey’s primary energy supply was 88% in 2013. Almost more than 70% of electricity is produced from fossil fuels. Total installed capacity is 71 GW, 20.5% of this coming from coal-fired power plants. The installed capacity of coal-fired power plants has increased by 77% when compared to 2004. According to a September 2015 Oil Change International report on The Cost of Subsidizing Fossil Fuel Production In Turkey, “most of the US$1.5 billion of international public finance going to coal in Turkey came from ECAs, specifically OECD export credit agencies. (p.12)
Ilisu dam protest
(Hasankeyf Action Day, Hasankeyf, 20 September 2015) On September 20th, activists, social movements and NGO’s joined an international action day for the conservation of Hasankeyf and the Tigris River. Protesting against the Ilisu Dam Project, a large demonstration took place in the 10.000 year old town of Hasankeyf, which is threatened by the Ilisu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant Project. If the ongoing construction of the project is completed, there will be a massive social, ecological and cultural destruction in Turkish-Kurdistan, the North of Mesopotamia. The Ilisu Project will also intensify ongoing Middle East conflicts within and outside Turkish borders, in particular in Iraq and Syria. Protesters requested UNESCO designation of Hasankeyf as a world heritage site. In July 2010 after several years of local and international campaigns, the Export Credit Agencies of Germany, Austria and Switzerland suspended credit guarantees due to Turkey’s failure to comply with required environmental, social and cultural heritage conditions. However, the Turkish state and the companies found new financing and continue with the project.
World Bank body to help Turkey grow export sector
(Hurriyet Daily News, Washington, 7 April 2015) The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the political risk insurance and credit enhancement arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that it will help Turkish Eximbank provide medium- and long-term funds to Turkish exporters. “MIGA is providing guarantees of $333 million to a syndicate of banks jointly led by Citibank N.A. and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale of Germany, against the risk of non-honoring of financial obligations by a state-owned enterprise on their 10-year loan facility to Turkey’s official export credit agency,” it said April 7. Société Générale S.A. of France is also participating in the loan facility, and the two-tranche facility will complement Turkish Eximbank’s other funding sources.
Azeri State Oil Company SOCAR to Sign $3.5 Billion Turkish Refinery Deal
(Bloomberg, Istanbul, 22 April 2014) Azerbaijan’s state oil company, Socar, is in the final stages of negotiations for a $3.5 billion loan to help build a refinery in Turkey, said Kenan Yavuz, chief executive for the company’s Turkish unit… Most of the $3.5 billion package, arranged by the Turkish unit of Unicredit SpA (UCG), Italy’s biggest lender, will be provided by 15 international lenders with guarantees from the ECAs of six countries, the US Ex-Im Bank, JBIC, Export-Import Bank of Korea, and the Italian, Canadian and Spanish ECAs.
