Ziraat Bankası

The Turkish Wealth Fund (TWF) announced late on May 11 that it will raise the core capital of three state lenders.

"To strengthen capital structures and support the adequacy of Ziraat Bank, Halkbank and VakıfBank, we have launched the necessary works to raise core capitals by a total of 21 billion Turkish liras [some $3 billion]," the TWF said in a statement.

Turkish state lenders announced a financial support package on March 25in line with the government measures to limit the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Three conventional banks - Ziraat, Halk, Vakıf - and two participation lenders - Ziraat Katılım and Vakıf Katılım - made public their package applicable for all enterprises.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he disapproves of plans regarding a unit of state-owned lender Ziraat buying a stake in bakery chain Simit Sarayı and that this plan has been dropped.

The state-owned Ziraat Bank has provided a total of 1.9 billion Turkish Liras (around $346n million) of financing to farmers under the "greenhouse farming loan package" that was launched in February by Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak.

State lender Ziraat Bank has secured a $1.425 billion syndicated loan with the participation of 40 banks from 22 countries.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sept. 8 Turkey would reorganize its $40 billion sovereign wealth fund after dismissing the organization's chairman over its failure to meet targets since it was founded a year ago.

A leading British consultancy named Türk Telekom on June 14 as Turkey's most valuable brand for 2017.        
According to the London-based Brand Finance valuation consultancy's list of top 100 Turkish brands for the year, the integrated telecommunications service provider topped the list with a brand value worth more than $2.6 billion.        

Turkey's state-run Ziraat Bank will offer services in neighboring Georgia under a new institution called JSC Ziraat Bank Georgia, it announced on May 2.        

Turkey has transferred stakes worth billions of dollars in Ziraat Bank, the Borsa Istanbul stock exchange, Turkish Airlines and state-owned pipeline operator BOTAŞ, among others, to a new sovereign wealth fund, in a bid to help finance giant infrastructure projects. 

Turkey's state-run Ziraat Bank has applied to the Capital Markets Board (SPK) to issue debt instruments of up to $4 billion abroad, an SPK bulletin stated on Dec. 28.