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).