Leading Turkish construction in Russia sees major inspection

Nerdun Hacıoğlu – MOSCOW

The Russian authorities have carried out a search at the St. Petersburg headquarters of Renaissance Construction, a large-scale Turkish contractor, seizing computers and other accounting documents.

Russian news agency Interfax said the raid was linked to corruption claims, a report that was denied by Renaissance executives in a statement to Hürriyet on Sept. 18.

“The St. Petersburg office of the company was reached as part of general research in Russia and officials said there were no charges against Renaissance,” said the statement by the company. 

However, Russian Federal Security Agency (FSB) released a brief statement backing the information provided by Interfax, saying an operation was held against the Renaissance in St. Petersburg as it broke the Russian currency rules. 

FSB says the company broke a foreign currency law, transferring 100 billion rubles, roughly $1.7 billion, abroad.

The research was for collecting evidence to an upcoming lawsuit, said the FSB. 

Sources close to the company, meanwhile, told Hürriyet that a rival firm’s complaint might be behind the operation on Renaissance.

Founded by Turkish businessman Erman Ilıcak, Renaissance operates in 24 countries as a contractor and investor. 

It became one of the most vulnerable firms following the now-resolved jet-downing crisis between Russia and Turkey due to sanctions imposed by Moscow on Turkish businesses.

Renaissance ranked number 38 in the Engineering News Records’ (ENR) foreign margin list in 2016. 

Based on information provided by the ENR, of the company’s total profits worth $3.9 billion, $3.25 billion came from projects in foreign countries.