IFC invests $100 mln in Turkey’s energy giant Tüpraş
ISTANBUL
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has said it granted a seven-year loan of approximately $100 million to Tüpraş, Turkey’s oil refiner and largest industrial company.
The grant will support Tüpraş’s investment plans concerning environmental upgrades, improvement in efficiency, and research and development activities, the IFC said in a statement on Oct. 4.
Tüpraş will install new sulfur recovery units in İzmit, İzmir and Kırıkkale refineries to optimize its crude oil processing capability and improve sulfur emissions through this loan, it added.
The new investments will also include an increase in the capacity of the continuous catalyst regeneration platformer in the İzmir Refinery to increase the company’s global competitiveness by allowing it to produce more value-added products using the same feedstock, according to the statement.
“With additional sulfur recovery units we will be ready to support the maritime industry in its efforts to change into low sulfur marine fuel before the regulation change planned for 2020. It is good to have IFC partnering us in this effort, providing us the long-term financing for this good cause and enable us follow high environmental standards,” Tüpraş CFO Doğan Korkmaz stated.
The investment will support Tüpraş to ensure value added, resource efficient local refining capacity for Turkey, where demand for refined products grew above 2.5 percent per year over the last 20 years, according to the statement.
Turkey is the second-largest country exposure for the IFC globally. In line with the World Bank Group Turkey Country Partnership Strategy for fiscal years 2012 to 2017, the IFC has invested nearly $5 billion in private sector projects.
