Convert Payments to TL in Build-Operate-Transfer Projects, Declare Force Majeure and Postpone

CHP Deputy Ali Fazıl Kasap submitted a bill to convert the payments to TL in build-operate-transfer projects, which have an increasing burden on the state and the public, to declare “force majeure” and postpone it, and to apply the Turkish legal system in disputes. A law proposal has been prepared to alleviate the burden of the state and citizens in projects such as Zafer Airport, Eurasia Tunnel, and the Northern Marmara Highway, which are carried out with the "build-operate-transfer" model, in other words, the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

18.8 Billion Paid

Sözcüfrom Ali Ekber Ertürk news ofaccording to what; The law proposal prepared by CHP Kütahya Deputy Ali Fazıl Kasap and submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey requires the conversion of foreign currency payments made to projects based on this model into Turkish Lira, the postponement of payments under extraordinary conditions such as epidemics and natural disasters, the Turkish legal system to be valid in disputes that may arise between the parties. envisages that the President be given the authority to “make a new arrangement” in order to prevent the public damage that may occur in these projects.

Providing information about the offer, Ali Fazıl Kasap stated that within the framework of PPP projects with an investment size of more than 150 billion dollars in Turkey, despite the epidemic conditions since March 2020, 2020 billion lira guarantee payment was made to the contractor companies for 18.8 without a force majeure declaration by the government.

Payments Delayed

Butcher argued that the guarantee payments of the projects made with the PPP model were delayed by accepting force majeure in many countries due to the Covid-19 epidemic, which affected the whole world, but the AKP government did not prefer this method and made its supporters rich.

250 Projects That Hurt the Public Should Be Stopped

Emphasizing that the burden of PPP projects and city hospitals on the budget increases every year, Ali Fazıl Kasap said that contracts made in foreign currency also harm the public due to the exchange rate difference. Butcher emphasized that the projects, which have numerous problems from planning to tendering, implementation to control, and which are implemented in many areas such as health, transportation, energy, urban infrastructure, 51 percent of which are airport investments, and their number reaches 250, must be stopped by declaring "force majeure" urgently.