Five bids submitted for Salıpazarı Port tender

ISTANBUL

Five consortiums bid for the Salipazarı privatization tender.

Five consortiums have submitted bids for the Istanbul Salıpazarı Port Area, originally owned by Turkey’s Maritime Organization (TDI), including Doğuş Holding, Alsim Alarko, Polimeks-Folkart-Sembol consortium, Torunlar, and Global Investment-Özak-Delta Proje, according to the Turkish Privatization Authority.

The Port will be privatized for 30 years through the method of “Grant of Operation Right.” The Turkish Privatization Authority attempted to lease the region for 49 years in 2005. A consortium led by renowned (but now deceased) Israeli businessman Sami Ofer and his Turkish partner Global Investment, won it after outbidding their competitors with an offer of $4.3 billion. But this auction was later nullified by the Turkish Maritime Organization (TDI), on the grounds that certain conditions had not been met. The tender process started following a series of changes in the tender specifications, such as the time period of the operation right, which was limited from 49 years to 30 years, and the construction area was narrowed.

The Port is one of the top 10 ports in Europe in terms of number of passengers, with 600,000 passengers annually. The current Port and its neighboring area are expected to be improved after the privatization. The new tender, however, has been the subject of new judicial cases.