Doing Business in Türkiye: Infrastructure and privatizations

Privatization

The Privatization High Council and the Privatization Administration are responsible for implementing privatization policies in Türkiye. The Privatization High Council, which reports to the President, is the ultimate decision-making body on privatizations. The Privatization Administration is the executive body for the privatization process.

The following chart, based on Privatization Administration data, shows privatization revenues between 1986 and 2021.

Privatizations may be carried out by using one or more of the following methods: 

• Asset or share sale through a block sale, domestic or international public offerings or a combination of these;
• Lease of assets for a term to be determined;
• Transfer of Operating Rights (TOR);
• Establishment of limited rights in rem such as servitude rights or usufruct rights; or
• Income sharing through issuance of a financial instrument, similar to a project bond, to promote investor participation.

In energy and infrastructure projects such as ports, airports and hydropower plants the Privatization Administration has frequently used the TOR model.

PPP models

BOT model

The General BOT Law has been applied to various infrastructure and energy projects. A number of greenfield transportation (airports, roads, bridges, ports) and energy projects are being developed under this model.

Pursuant to the General BOT Law, the state enters into an implementation agreement, the term of which may be up to 49 years, with a winning bidder. At the end of the operating term, the project must be transferred back in good working condition, at no cost and without any encumbrances, to the state.

If the company fails to fulfil its obligations under the implementation agreement, the state has certain rights to step into the project, including taking over certain contractual arrangements that the project company has put in place.

There are exemptions from value added tax (VAT) for BOT projects. Furthermore, some transaction documents, services and other activities undertaken by Turkish project companies (or companies whose operations are managed out of Türkiye) are exempted from stamp tax and other charges. Double taxation agreements and bilateral investment treaties, to which Türkiye is party, may provide certain additional protection to foreign sponsors and lenders. Please see "Protection of Foreign Investments" for further details on protection of foreign investments.

BLT model

Since the beginning of the 2000's, the Turkish healthcare sector has undergone major reforms requiring substantial new investments in public healthcare infrastructure. As a new option to fund new healthcare investments, the state has decided to procure them by using the BLT model. 

Under the BLT model, the project company constructs or renovates the healthcare facility and then leases the facility to the state for a certain period and price. The project company may also develop and operate certain commercial activities, such as hotels and restaurants, within the healthcare campus. There are certain factors to take into account when setting lease payments, including the term of the project, cost and profitability and projected revenue stream from commercial activities.

The term of a project may be up to 30 years and starts from the handover of the premises to the project company.

Services and other activities by Turkish project companies (or project companies whose operations are managed out of Türkiye) under the BLT model are exempt from stamp tax. There are also statutory exemptions from value added tax for healthcare PPP projects.

Financing of PPP projects: State guarantees

PPP projects function under the general principle that the project company must procure the financing to undertake the project. Different types of state guarantees may be available depending on the type and volume of the project.

In an attempt to increase the bankability of big-ticket projects, the government has promulgated a regulation on debt assumption by the Treasury, which is now reorganized under the Ministry of Finance. In case of early termination of the implementation agreement in a BOT or BLT project, the Ministry of Finance may take over the project company’s outstanding financial obligations, either partially or in full, including derivative instruments. To qualify for debt assumption, the investment amount must exceed certain monetary thresholds. The debt assumption would cover the project company’s outstanding foreign debt and other financial obligations and costs, including derivative instruments. The debt assumption may also cover outstanding interest payments (contractual and default), if the shareholders of the project company provides the Ministry of Finance with a joint and several guarantee as set forth in the applicable legislation.

For BOT and BLT projects, the state may also provide demand guarantees. Depending on the sector of the project, these guarantees may take the form of traffic/passenger guarantees (in road and airport projects) and patient guarantees (in healthcare projects). If such a guarantee is provided, the project agreement will include provisions as to how the state and the project company will split the surplus (i.e. where the generated income exceeds the amount of demand guaranteed by the state).

In an attempt to create further funding options, Türkiye’s first sovereign wealth fund, the Turkish Wealth Fund (Türkiye Varlık Fonu), was created in 2016. The Turkish Wealth Fund is a financial vehicle to utilize public assets to support large-scale public funding needs, to finance infrastructure projects and to raise capital to stabilize capital markets.