Swiss supplies for a major infrastructure project in Turkey
PUBLIREPORTAGE A Turkish EPC contractor sought ECA-covered financing for a large-scale infrastructure project in Turkey. To ensure that the project could be insured by SERV and thus financed cost-effectively, the company reactivated its Swiss subsidiary and restructured it into a globally operating contractor based in Switzerland. This benefited both the EPC contractor and Swiss exporters.
A new highway stretches 330 kilometers from the Turkish capital Ankara to the southern province of Nigde. The freeway, which is part of the trans-European road network, was put into operation ahead of the expected completion of the project. This major project, worth a total of 1.5 billion euros, also involved Swiss Export Risk Insurance SERV involved. This benefited both the project's Turkish EPC contractor (EPC) and Swiss exporters.
A sales channel for Swiss exporters
To meet SERV's requirements in terms of financing structure, the Turkish EPC ERG İnşaat Ticaret ve Sanayi A.Ş. reactivated its subsidiary in Switzerland, SSB Sauerwein & Schäfer Bau AG (SSB), and staffed it with experienced project managers. It also had to meet Swiss value-added requirements. To this end, SSB involved well-known Swiss companies as subcontractors for the project with various supplies and services.
With its insurance, SERV thus opens up an additional sales channel for Swiss exporters in the highway construction sector in various areas; be it for the provision of engineering services, the supply of construction machinery or the development of the toll collection system.
The thing with the financing
SERV has supported the project with a Buyer credit insurance for a loan in the amount of 130 million euros and a long term of 13 years. This has a major advantage for SSB: SERV benefits from Switzerland's AAA rating. Thanks to this rating, the lender has classified SERV's risk to a minimum. This has helped SSB to obtain extremely attractive financing with low interest rates.
SSB has now developed into a successful Swiss company and established itself in Switzerland. As a result, further orders have not been long in coming and in 2021 SSB has received a commitment from SERV to secure another export deal. Burak Sencer, General Manager at SSB, explains, "Following the success of this business and in line with our objective to become a global company, we are very happy to take advantage of the dynamic Swiss industry in close cooperation with SERV for future transactions around the world."
Insurance made to measure
As an active member of the international export financing community, SERV brings together EPCs such as SSB and Swiss exporters. In doing so, it is open to all countries, taking into account the principles of Swiss foreign policy. Based entirely on the EPC's needs, it arranges suitable suppliers in a variety of formats, ranging from bilateral negotiations to public matchmaking events. To this end, SERV's specialists have a good network of the Swiss export landscape and work closely with other players in the Swiss export industry. Carsten Böhler, Head of Acquisition at SERV, explains, "Switzerland has many and strong suppliers in various infrastructure sectors and has also been able to demonstrate that it is capable of implementing large infrastructure projects with high quality and on time."
A team of specialists in large-scale projects and project financing works with the parties involved to develop tailor-made, flexible and innovative solutions in the interests of strengthening Switzerland as a center of industry.
More information
SERV Swiss Export Risk Insurance
Geneva street 6
CH-8002 Zurich
+41 58 551 5555 | www.serv-ch.com | LinkedIn
