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10

1985

The Saipem-Tekfen-Kutlutaş Consortium

began the construction of the Second Iraq-

Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline. Tekfen entered

the project as the “commercial leader,” and

the project was completed on a very tight

schedule after the deadline was moved

ever closer. Delivered in 1987, the project

contributed greatly to Tekfen’s international

respectability.

1986

A new legislation by the government

lifted state control on fertilizer production,

granting the right to producers to engage

in their own marketing and determine

their own sale prices. Toros adapted to the

new conditions very rapidly and made an

important leap by setting up an effective

dealership and logistics infrastructure

spanning the country. An investment in

the same year doubled the production and

storage capacity at the Ceyhan Plant. After

a bag manufacturing plant was purchased

in Adana, Toros

began making its

own packaging.

1987

The construction

of the Tarsus-

Adana-Gaziantep

(TAG) Highway

began, which

was the biggest

project Tekfen

Construction had

undertaken up to

that point with a

project cost of over

USD1.8 billion. The

highway extended

for more than 300

km together with

access roads, and

Tekfen’s success proved that it had become

a contractor able to undertake world-class

projects on its own.

EsinMete

Former

Chairwoman of

Toros Agri

Before the

liberation measures, we had already

undertaken necessary preparations,

and before anyone even thought

of it, we had built warehouses

throughout Turkey. We had also

spent nearly USD50 million to

expand the plant and the terminal.

All the other producers laughed at

us, saying we did a stupid thing by

wasting all that money on useless

things. On the contrary, these were

the steps that would later make us

the leader of our industry.

Osman Birgili

President,

Tekfen Group of

Companies

The TAG Highway

was a megaproject

by any standard

anywhere, and

Tekfen completed

it singlehandedly.

A three-lane

highway stretching

300 km is a great

achievement for

any contractor.

1989

Toros Agri bought Akdeniz Fertilizer in

Mersin and increased its annual production

capacity to 1.5 million tons, becoming the

biggest fertilizer producer in Turkey.

Mehmet N. Erten

Former Chairman of Eurobank

Tekfen

It may be true that Tekfen was never

big in banking, but Tekfen has been

a very reputable name for fifty years,

with a well-known approach to risks

and a way of doing business, which

was always an immense advantage

for us. We always emerged from

crises stronger and bigger.

Insurance operations had begun under TST

in 1981, and took on a corporate structure in

1989 with the founding of Tekfen Insurance

and Brokerage Services, Inc.

Tekfenbank was founded to meet Tekfen’s

need for financing, which had been one of

the greatest problems contractors faced in

the 1980s during their expansion abroad.

1990

A second pier was built at the Ceyhan

Plant after port services to third parties

grew considerably. Designed to be multi-

purpose, the Toros Terminal became one of

the most important deep see ports of the

East Mediterranean thanks to its equipment

and capacity.

Erhan Öner

Board Member, Chief Advisor of

Tekfen Holding

After we began offering terminal

services, our existing pier

became a big source of revenue,

so we said, “We want to build

something much bigger: a

new terminal!” We didn’t have

as much cash back then as

we do now, but nonetheless

we undertook an investment

project of USD65 million. It was

something I would hesitate to

approve even today.

Under the partnership of the

İstanbul Municipality, the

French Prisunic, and Tekfen,

Turkey’s first “hypermarket”

Belpa was opened in İstanbul.

A wide array of goods were

sold at Belpa under a single

roof, from socks to domestic

appliances and from bread

to fish. In 1991, Prisunic sold

its shares to Tekfen, followed

by the İstanbul Municipality

in 1993, when Belpa was

converted into a DIY store.

This marked the founding of

Götzen, Turkey’s first DIY store

(later to become Tekzen).