Pro-gov't company granted 500 mln lira tender to mend Istanbul bridge

Duvar English

A state tender for the replacement of the cables on Istanbul's Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge for over half a billion liras was assigned to Makyol Construction, a common recipient of state funds as an ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the daily BirGün reported on Aug. 26. 

Turkey's General Directorate of Highways held a 508,312,000-lira tender for the project on July 6 and was assigned to a collaboration of Japan-based IHI Infrastructure Systems and Makyol Construction with an estimated completion time of 900 days.

Makyol Construction was named one of the "mob of five" by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for being an exceptionally common recipient of state tenders, with the cost of their state projects reaching 3.8 billion Turkish Liras by the end of 2020. 

Makyol also repaired the runway in Trabzon Airport after the damage in the 58-million-lira facility halted flights earlier in August, signing a tender for over 58 million liras. 

Makyol was kept exempt from taxes a total of 24 times in the past decade and received 24 percent of all state tenders alongside Cengiz, Limak, Kolin and Kalyon holdings. 

State tenders are a common method of transferring public funds to private entities under the ruling AKP, with companies owned by their political allies often receiving large funds for projects that are redundant or overpriced.