Turkey Wealth Fund

Sovereign wealth fund of Turkey
Turkey Wealth Fund
Native name
Türkiye Varlık Fonu
IndustrySovereign wealth fund
Founded26 August 2016; 7 years ago (2016-08-26)
Headquarters
Ankara, Turkey
Key people
Chairman:
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
CEO:
Salim Arda Ermut
Websitewww.tvf.com.tr

The Turkey Wealth Fund (TWF; Turkish: Türkiye Varlık Fonu, TVF) is a $33 billion[1] sovereign wealth fund founded in August 2016 owned by Government of Turkey. The fund is operated with "Strategic Investment Plan", which was approved by the Cabinet. Companies and assets formerly owned by state institutions, shall be eligible to be transferred to the fund and sub-funds shall be able to created if viewed appropriate.[2]

History

TWF is founded officially on 26 August 2016. According to the law published, chairman, CEO and board members were appointed by the Prime Minister.[3] In November 2016, PM Binali Yıldırım appointed board members and Mehmet Bostan as CEO.[4]

On 6 February 2017, it was announced that Ziraat Bankası, Turkish Airlines, TÜRKSAT, BOTAŞ, PTT, BİST, TPAO, Türk Telekom (6,68%), Eti Maden, Çaykur have been handed over to TWF.[5] In addition to the companies, 3 billion liras worth Defense Industry Support Fund (Turkish: Savunma Sanayii Destekleme Fonu) were transferred to TWF for 3 months. The fund also has several lands in Antalya, Aydın, Istanbul, Isparta, İzmir, Kayseri and Muğla, which were previously owned by Treasury of Turkey. Treasury stakes of Turkish Airlines (49,12%) and Halkbank (51,11%) were also handed over to the fund.[5]

2018 changes

After 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum, Prime Ministry of Turkey was abolished. In accordance with this change, TWF law is changed to allow President of Turkey became the chairman of TWF and appointment of CEO, Vice Chairman and board members by the President. On 12 September, President Erdoğan became chairman of the fund.[6][7][8] He also appointed Zafer Sonmez, formerly of Malaysia's government investment vehicle Khazanah Nasional from September 2012 until September 2018, as Senior Vice President & Head.[7] Erdoğan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak was named as his deputy on the board of the sovereign wealth fund.[9]

2020 changes

In April 2020, TWF Financial Investments was founded with previously government owned shares insurance companies.[10] TWF acquired non-government shares and merger was completed in September 2020; “Türkiye Sigorta” was founded with merging Güneş Sigorta, Halk Sigorta, Ziraat Sigorta and “Türkiye Hayat ve Emeklilik” was founded with merging Vakıf Emeklilik ve Hayat, Halk Hayat ve Emeklilik and Ziraat Hayat ve Emeklilik.[11]

On 18 June 2020, the TWF agreed to acquire 26.2% shares of Turkcell from Telia and Çukurova Holding for US$1,801 million, including US$196 million to Telia and US$1,605 million loan from Ziraat Bank.[12][13][14] On 22 September 2020 following amendments to Articles of Association, the fund has gained the right to appoint five of the nine members of the board of Turkcell.[15]

On 26 November 2020, TWF announced selling %10 stakes of Borsa Istanbul to QIA which was previously acquired from EBRD[16] The next day, Vice Chairman Albayrak announced his resignation, whom previously resigned from Ministry of Finance.[17]

On 10 March 2022, TWF acquired controlling stakes of Türk Telekom for 1.65B USD in order to resolve handover issues in 2026.[18][19]

Management

Chairman & CEO
Mehmet Bostan
(2 November 2016 – 8 September 2017)[4]
Himmet Karadağ
(8 September 2017 – 12 September 2018)[20]
Chairman Vice Chairman CEO
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
(12 September 2018-)[8] 		Berat Albayrak
(12 September 2018 – 27 November 2020)[8] 		Zafer Sönmez
(12 September 2018 – 9 March 2021)[8]
vacant
(27 November 2020 – 31 January 2021)[17]
Erişah Arıcan
(31 January 2021-)[21]
Salim Arda Ermut
(9 March 2021-)[22]

Companies

Company Operating area Stake Equity (TRY₺ billion)
Borsa Istanbul[23] Financial services 80.6% [16]
BOTAŞ[23] Energy 100%
Çaykur[23] Agriculture and food 100%
Eti Maden[23] Mining 100%
Halkbank Financial services 87.7% 11.5 (2012)[24]
Port of İzmir (Alsancak)[25] Transport and logistics 100%
Kardemir[26] 4.38%
Kayseri Şeker[27] Agriculture and food 11.1%
Platform Ortak Kartlı Sistemler A.Ş. Technology and telecom 20%
PTT[23] Transport and logistics 100%
TPAO[23] Energy 100% 21.529 (2016)[28]
Türkşeker (tr) Agriculture and food 100%
Türk Telekom Technology and telecom 61.68% 26.874 (2016)[29]
Turkcell Technology and telecom 26.2%
TÜRKSAT[23] Technology and telecom 100% 2.697 (2017)[30]
Turkish Airlines Transport and logistics 49.12%[31] 73.129 (2018)[32]
Turkish Maritime Organization Transport and logistics 49%[27]
Türkiye Sigorta (tr)[11] Financial services 81.1%
Türkiye Hayat ve Emeklilik[11] Financial services 100%
TWF Energy Energy 100%
TWF Refinery and Petrochemical Energy 100%
TWF Mining Mining 100%
VakıfBank Financial services 64.8%
Ziraat Bank[23] Financial services 100% 13.540 (2011)[33]

Licenses:

References

  1. ^ Pitel, Laura (2020-02-17). "Turkey wealth fund chief rebuffs criticism of Erdogan's role". Financial Times.
  2. ^ "The Law No. 6741 on Establishment of Turkey Wealth Fund Management Company and Amendments in Certain Laws" (PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Türkiye Varlık Fonu Yönetmeliği Yayınlandı". htemlak.haberturk.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Türkiye Varlık Fonu Genel Müdürlüğüne Mehmet Bostan Atandı". Haksöz Haber (in Turkish). 2 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b Coskun, Orhan (2017-02-06). "Turkey transfers billions in major company stakes to sovereign wealth fund". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  6. ^ "Erdogan takes wheel of Turkish wealth fund". Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  7. ^ a b "Erdogan Names Himself Turkey Wealth Fund Chairman in Shakeup". Bloomberg.com. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  8. ^ a b c d "Ex-Turkey president says alarm bells ringing on economy under Erdoğan". Ahval. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  9. ^ "Erdogan takes control of Turkey's sovereign wealth fund". Financial Times. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  10. ^ "Türkiye Varlık Fonu bazı sigorta ve emeklilik şirketlerini bünyesine kattı". sozcu.com.tr (in Turkish). 22 April 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  11. ^ a b c "Çalışanlar dikkat! Bireysel Emeklilik Sistemi'nde dengeler değişiyor". CNN Türk (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş." sec.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  13. ^ Wires, Daily Sabah with (18 June 2020). "Done deal: Turkey Wealth Fund acquires controlling stake in Turkcell from Telia for $530M". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Turkey Wealth Fund gains controlling stake in Turkcell". Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  15. ^ "TWF's Turkcell transaction is completed". tvf.com.tr. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  16. ^ a b "Katar, Borsa İstanbul'a ortak oldu". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  17. ^ a b "Albayrak resigns from Turkey Wealth Fund". Anadolu Agency. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  18. ^ "Özelleştirilen en büyük şirketlerden biri olan Türk Telekom'un çoğunluk hissesi artık Varlık Fonu'nun". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Varlık Fonu Türk Telekom'u neden satın aldı?". sozcu.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  20. ^ "Türkiye Varlık Fonu Başkanı Mehmet Bostan görevden alındı". sozcu.com.tr (in Turkish). 8 September 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  21. ^ "Berat Albayrak'ın atadığı Hazine ve Maliye Bakan Yardımcıları görevden alındı". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  22. ^ "Varlık Fonu'nun yeni Genel Müdürü Salim Arda Ermut - Yeşil Gazete" (in Turkish). Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ziraat Bankası, BOTAŞ, TPAO, PTT ve BİST, Türkiye Varlık Fonu'na devredildi". BBC Türkçe. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  24. ^ "Consolidated Balance Sheet" (PDF). 31 December 2012.
  25. ^ "Varlık Fonu, İzmir Limanı'nı da 'yuttu': Satma, devretme ve kiralama yetkisi var". Diken. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  26. ^ "Varlık Fonu Kardemir hissesi alıyor".
  27. ^ a b c d "Portföy". turkiyevarlikfonu.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  28. ^ "Aylık Bilanço" (PDF). Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  29. ^ "CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL REPORT 2016" (PDF). Türk Telekomünikasyon A.Ş.
  30. ^ "Faaliyet Raporu" (PDF). Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  31. ^ "THY ve Halkbank da Varlık Fonu'na devrediliyor". BBC Türkçe. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  32. ^ "TÜRK HAVA YOLLARI ANONİM ORTAKLIĞI VE BAĞLI ORTAKLIKLARI" (PDF). Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  33. ^ "ANNUAL REPORT 2011" (PDF). Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Ziraat Bankası. Retrieved 2012-06-17.