The FINANCIAL — The first disbursement under a comprehensive long-term financial package for the construction of a new €490 million high-tech hospital in Bursa, Turkey’s fourth most populous city, is being made today.
The EBRD, a major institutional investor in Turkey, has played a key role in mobilising commercial financing for the project. The Bank is providing a €135 million syndicated loan under its A/B structure, with €55 million on its own account, and a total of €80 million syndicated to a group of international commercial lenders: The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd (€40 million), Kommunalkredit Austria AG (€30 million) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Dubai (DIFC) branch (€10 million).
Other commercial lenders include Siemens Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation which jointly are providing €70 million. In parallel, Proparco, an investment arm of the French development agency, is providing €15 million; DEG, the German Investment and Development Corporation, is extending a €20 million loan; and the European Investment Bank is contributing €150 million, according to EBRD.
The health campus will consist of three hospital buildings with a total capacity of 1,355 beds. It will be designed, built, equipped and managed by a private developer, BRS Saglik Yatirim A.S., set up by a consortium of Turkish and international firms. These include one of Turkey’s largest construction and infrastructure companies, Rönesans Holding, and the leading global infrastructure firm, Meridiam, investing through an investment fund where the EBRD is a shareholder among other investors.Sila Consulting Medical Services, Sam Engineering and TTT Saglik Hizmetleri A.S. are also part of the consortium set up to develop the project.
The project is part of the government’s large-scale hospital-building programme under a public-private model. Under a 28-year concession, the buildings will be leased to Turkey’s Ministry of Health. The project developer will act as facilities manager, providing building maintenance and non-clinical services, while medical services will remain the remit of the Ministry of Health. The hospital is expected to become operational by the end of 2019.
To date, the EBRD has financed eight hospital projects in Turkey and has also been working closely with the Turkish Ministry of Health over the past four years to enable greater private-sector involvement in the hospital sector.
Faced with the need for large investments, the Turkish government is seeking to tap private-sector resources and know-how to construct and manage infrastructure facilities more quickly and efficiently.
The EBRD is a major investor in Turkey. To date, the Bank has invested over €9.5 billion in various sectors of Turkey’s economy, with almost all investments in the private sector.
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