Turkey: Shipbuilder receives $200 million order

At a time when Turkey’s relations with Azerbaijan have grown tense, an Azerbaijani business group signed a lucrative deal with a Turkish shipbuilder, in a sign that business relations between the two sides are as warm as usual. The Palmali Group, owned by the Mansimov family, ordered 10 tankers to be built by Turkey’s Beşiktaş Group, for a total price of $200 million. The signing ceremony on Friday in Istanbul was attended by Marif Mansimov, the CEO of Palmali, İhsan Kalkavan, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Beşiktaş Group, Yavuz Kalkavan, Deputy CEO of the group and other company representatives from both sides.
The tankers will be delivered to the Azeri company between December 2010 and September 2013.
“This deal is of key importance for our shipbuilding sector, which is going through tough times due to the global crisis,” said Kalkavan, speaking at the meeting. “These orders will provide 1,000 jobs at the Beşiktaş shipyard in Altınova, Yalova.”
“We are two companies, but one family,” Kalkavan added, referring to the “two states, one nation” motto used for Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Palmali Maritime Group is one of the biggest in the world, with 130 ships in its fleet, said Mansimov. “As the group expands, we are planning to add other ships that we would need built at the Beşiktaş shipyard,” he added, noting that the two companies have been cooperating in transportation since 1998.