Turkish firm with political ties eyes nationalised gas group, sources

Turkey’s Kalyon Group, a construction company with links to country’s energy minister and president, is looking to buy the largest private natural gas importer Akfel Holding Turkey, which was nationalised this month, three sources told ICIS this week.

The Kalyon Group already has a presence in the gas sector through Ar Enerji, which is a shareholder in Socar Gaz, the Turkish subsidiary of Azerbaijani oil and gas incumbent Socar.

Sources said the group could significantly increase its presence by acquiring the gas importing subsidiaries of Akfel Holding Turkey, which were taken over by the state on 2 December.

Akfel Gaz, Enerco Enerji and Avrasya Gaz, which include Russia’s Gazprom among shareholders, import a combined 5.25 billion cubic metres (bcm)/year, making up the largest share of privately contracted gas in Turkey.

The ownership transfer raises concerns about the future of Turkey’s nascent gas market, as these subsidiaries were at the core of private enterprise in the sector.

Sources said the Kalyon Group is preparing to take a more active role in the energy sector and the acquisition may be part of the strategy.

Records published on the Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi website, a national company registry, reveal that Kalyon Insaat, the construction arm of the group, set up Kalyon Enerji Yatirimlari on 13 October 2016.

The Kalyon Group did not respond to a request for comment.

Akfel takeover

The three gas importing companies, along with other subsidiaries, were placed in government hands on 2 December and a 10-person board was appointed by state administrators TMSF.

Akfel Holding Turkey is the latest of nearly 5,000 companies to have been nationalised, following allegations of links to a religious group accused of masterminding a failed coup in mid-July.

Last week a source at TMSF told ICIS the new administrators would review the financial situation of the group before putting up for sale all profitable receivables.

It was unclear on Thursday whether the assets of Akfel Holding Turkey had already been put up for sale. TMSF did not respond to a request for comment.

TMSF has been updating a list of all company takeovers since the expropriations started after the coup attempt, although there was no data on its website about the Akfel Holding Turkey takeover.

Kalyon Group

The shareholding structure of Socar Gaz Turkey reveals links between the owners of the Kalyon Group and the current energy minister Berat Albayrak, the son-in-law of Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It also shows the company is connected to Ziya Ilgen, brother-in-law of the president.

According to data available on the Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi website, Socar Gaz Turkey is majority-owned by Socar Turkey and minority shareholder Cig Enerji.

Cig Enerji was set up on 9 August 2012 and was partly owned by Akfel Muhendislik and FTG, a real estate investment company.

In May 2013, the shareholding structure of Cig Enerji changed. The company’s ownership was split between Cig Petrol, which retained the previous shareholders of Cig Enerji, and Ar Enerji.

Records published in February 2013 indicate the board of Ar Enerji was made up of Ziya Ilgen, Cemal Kalyoncu and Omer Faruk Kalyoncu.

In September 2013, the shares were pooled into Ayyildiz Holding, which represented Ar Enerji. Omer Faruk Kalyoncu became chairman of the board at Ayyildiz Holding.

A few days later, Ayyildiz Holding changed its name to Zirve Holding, which came to prominence the following year when it bought out a high-profile media group from Calik Holding, whose CEO at the time was Berat Albayrak, the current energy minister.

Earlier this month, whistleblowing website Wikileaks released 57,000 e-mails from the personal account of Berat Albayrak, revealing e-mail exchanges involving Albayrak, his brother Serhat, and the owners of the Kalyon Group.

Socar Turkey, through its petrochemical branch, Socar Petrokimya, has been lifting 1.2bcm/year from the Turkish incumbent BOTAS, following a volume release on BOTAS’s import contract with Azerbaijan four years ago.

The gas volumes were sold to the company’s petrochemical operations and to some wholesalers. This arrangement will change from 2017, when Socar Turkey takes over the sale operations currently carried out by Socar Gaz, according to a source close to the company.

The Kalyon Group came into the spotlight in 2013 after it was chosen as the main contractor in the development of the Gezi Park in Istanbul. The proposed changes to the park met fierce public opposition and led to several weeks of civil unrest. aura.sabadus@icis.com