A New Era in Highway Guarantee Payments

A new era in “guarantee” payments on bridges and highways… Following Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and the Northern Peripheral Motorway, it was decided to switch to bilateral methods for guarantee payments for the Osmangazi Bridge and Gebze-Orhangazi-İzmir Motorway.

Payments will be made in 6-month periods. Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge is expected to pay around 1 billion 800 million TL for the first half of this year at the end of July. A payment of this amount will also be made at the end of September or in October for the Osmangazi Bridge and the Izmir Motorway.

According to the news of Olcay Aydilek from Habertürk; Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and the Northern Ring Motorway, Osmangazi Bridge and Gebze-Orhangazi-izmir motorway, Eurasia Tunnel, which are known as “mega” in public, were built by the private sector with the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. In these projects, the vehicle transition costs were determined in foreign currency. The state has guaranteed a certain number of vehicle migration to these projects. If the vehicle transitions are below the warranty limit, the state pays the difference.

Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge operates the Northern Ring Motorway, İÇTAŞ-Astaldi consortium. The government previously made warranty payments annually on bridge and highway projects. After the shock increase in the exchange rate in August 2018, the dual payment system was launched. Accordingly, guarantee payments are made in July for the first half of the year and in January for the second half of the year.

Within this framework, the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge will be guaranteed for the first half of this year at the end of July. An amount of approximately 1 billion 800 million TL is calculated. The net payable will appear in the first days of the new month.

NEW DECISION

After the third bridge, Osmangazi Bridge and Gebze-Orhangazi-İzmir Highway have also recently switched to dual method in guarantee payments. Otoyol Yatırım AŞ, which makes and operates this project, will receive a guarantee payment for the first half of 2020 in late September or October. It is expected that a payment will be made to the Osmangazi Bridge to the third bridge. The second tranche (for the second half of 2020) will be made to this project in March or April of the following year (2021).