Local contractors eye to procure Libya losses

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s TML İnşaat finished its half-completed port project in Libya last month. Hürriyet photo

A Turkish contractor has become the first company to finish an infrastructure project in Libya, which had been left incomplete after the civil war erupted in the North African country.

TML İnşaat, which recently completed the $100-million port project after signing a re-start protocol with the Libyan government, gave hope to other Turkish contractors that have been forced to abandon projects worth billions of dollars due to violence in Libya. 

Turkish contractors have been struggling to procure their due debts from the government, estimated to total around $20 billion, but TML İnşaat received its payment from the Libyan government without any delays.

Last week, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi had said total payments to Turkish companies’ Libya projects that were expected to be paid over three years amounted to $1 billion.