Turkey has revived plans to sell the operating rights of two landmark İstanbul bridges and several highways in what could be the country’s largest privatization deal, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to Bloomberg the Privatization Administration has asked investment banks to submit proposals for the 15 July Martyrs and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges as well as at least nine toll roads. The plan remains at an early stage and may not result in a deal.
The two bridges, which link İstanbul’s European and Asian sides across the Bosporus Strait, are operated by the state-run General Directorate of Highways (KGM). Hundreds of thousands of vehicles cross them daily.
The bridges were last offered in a 2012 tender together with some 2,000 kilometers of highways. At that time then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rejected the winning $5.7 billion bid as too low, saying selling the rights for less than $7 billion would amount to “treason.”
Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek is reportedly seeking new income sources to help narrow the budget deficit, projected at 3.6 percent of gross domestic product this year.
The winning consortium in the 2012 tender included Turkey’s Koç Holding, İstanbul-based Gözde Girişim Sermayesi Yatırım Ortaklığı and Malaysia’s UEM Group.
Officials from the Privatization Administration and the Treasury and Finance Ministry did not immediately comment.