İşbank to open branch in Yüksekova

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

İşbank Chairman Özince poses in front of the İşbank headquarters in Istanbul. Hürriyet photo

İşbank is continuing its expansion after opening an office in the Georgian city of Batumi with plans
to establish a branch in Yüksekova in eastern Turkey, according to daily Zaman.

“We are going to open a branch in Yüksekova. We’ve made our decision,” said İşbank Chairman Ersin Özince at the opening of the Batumi branch.

Touching on Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan’s recent remark that Turkish banks do not provide loans to Anatolia, Özince pointed out that İşbank was now an exception.

Batumi expansion part of greater regional strategy

As part of its larger strategy to become a key regional player İşbank opened its Batumi branch. At the branch’s opening ceremony Özince told reporters that the 83 projects undertaken by Turkish contractors in Georgia had exceeded $1 billion and that Turkish firms had played a very important role recently in the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in Georgia. Turkey is number three among global investors in Georgia and has invested $525 million in Georgia over the past five years, he said.

“This strong trade link has encouraged the Işbank Group to focus on Georgia and has motivated our investments,” said Özince. k HDN