EBRD, Turkish development bank to finance food sector

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB) will jointly provide €6 million ($6.3 million) of financing to a major Turkish flour producer, the EBRD said on Monday.

"In their first joint transaction, the EBRD and TSKB are providing €6 million of working capital financing to Ulusoy Un, a flour miller and grain trader based in Samsun, a city in the Black Sea region of Turkey," the bank said in a statement.

The EBRD said the financing took place under a joint program between the EBRD and TSKB set up in 2016 to improve and simplify access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Turkey.

The two lenders will equally (50:50) provide the financing for purchasing, storing and selling agro-commodities, according to the statement.

The EBRD noted that Ulusoy Un has been producing and selling flour used for the production of bread, biscuits, chapattis and noodles for nearly 30 years with exports to 72 countries.

"This funding will help make the company more competitive on the Turkish market and abroad," the bank said, and underlined the importance of competitiveness as one of the six transition qualities of the EBRD.

Gunhan Ulusoy, chairman of Ulusoy Un, stated that this agreement showed confidence in Turkey, its flour industry and his company.

"I am confident that our cooperation will go from strength to strength in the coming years," he added.

Suat Ince, CEO of TSKB, remarked on how the bank was pleased to finance Ulusoy Un and said: "TSKB will continue to develop solutions for the real sector and support value-adding investments."

Stressing TSKB’s deep local knowledge and network, Jean-Patrick Marquet, EBRD managing director for Turkey, said: "We are pleased to partner with TSKB as we work towards our joint goal of boosting the development of successful SMEs and small mid-cap companies such as Ulusoy Un."

In mid-January, the EBRD announced it invested more than €8.57 billion ($9.15 billion) in 207 Turkish projects over the past eight years.