Advantis Conseils
Newsletter
February 2023
February 2023 - Special Edition : Earthquakes in Türkiye
Monday, February 6, southeastern Türkiye and northern Syria were hit by two devastating earthquakes, one occurring overnight at 4:17 a.m. with a magnitude of 7.7 on the Richter scale. 'other at 1:24 p.m. with a magnitude of 7.4. 15 days later, the earth shook again on the evening of Monday February 20 with two earthquakes of magnitude 6.4 and 5.8 which once again shook the already devastated province of Hatay (Antioch), on the edge of the Mediterranean.
The provisional toll showed more than 44,000 dead (including Türkiye and Syria) and more than 110,000 injured. The hope of finding survivors is now almost zero.According to Afad (Disaster Management Agency), more than 6,000 aftershocks have been recorded since the first earthquake on February 6.
In total, 10 provinces in southeastern Türkiye were affected. The power of the tremors was such that they were felt as far away as Greenland. The extent of the earthquakes covers an area of 500 km2, the distance between Paris and Amsterdam. The provinces of Gaziantep, Hatay and Malatya appear to be the most affected. Much of the UNESCO-listed Gaziantep Castle, a structure built in 3600 BC that had remained intact despite various waves of invasion and conquest and change of hands, has been destroyed .
Turkish authorities have declared official mourning for a period of seven days (February 6-12, 2023) and a state of emergency in the disaster areas for three months.
After these terrible earthquakes, the urgency was to organize first aid to extract the survivors from the rubble in particularly difficult weather conditions (freezing cold, bad weather, etc.) which made the task of the rescuers extremely complex. Access to the disaster areas was even impossible in certain places due to the material damage (collapse of buildings, blocked roads, etc.) caused by the earthquakes.Survivors were evacuated to public buildings (school and sports establishments, town halls, etc.) and hotels, while some injured people were transferred to health establishments located in other cities for treatment.
A huge surge of solidarity immediately took hold. NGOs, foundations, associations, individuals... all jointly contributed to quickly coming to the aid of survivors and victims.
At the national level, the sending of essential goods (food, hygiene products, baby diapers, blankets, etc.), medical equipment, tents, stoves, etc. was the priority. Several calls for donations were launched and a program broadcast jointly on 8 Turkish TV channels made it possible to raise 6.3 billion EUR in just a few hours.This sum will be used to build new housing for earthquake survivors.
159,146 people were deployed to affected areas, including 7,716 from abroad. Among these rescue teams, the largest contingents come from Azerbaijan, Israel, India and France. A total of 94 countries participated in research and humanitarian aid.
At least 77 field hospitals were set up to facilitate the reception of the injured in the disaster areas. Several of these hospitals have been deployed by foreign countries.
On February 10, France deployed a high-capacity EMT2 (Emergency Medical Team level 2) field hospital validated by the WHO and capable of accommodating up to 100 patients/day with a team on board. medical staff composed of doctors, nurses and surgeons, and set up in the province of Adiyaman in Golbasi.
On February 16, the UN launched an appeal for international aid to raise 1 billion USD. For its part, the World Bank announced aid of 1.78 billion USD to help with relief efforts and support the reconstruction of disaster-stricken regions. The Turkish president announced that local and international aid sent to AFAD had reached EUR 410 million.
The European Union (EU) has committed to providing additional emergency assistance to Türkiye and Syria through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, as well as emergency humanitarian aid of one amount of EUR 6.5 million. This is one of the largest search and rescue operations ever undertaken by the EU through its Civil Protection Mechanism.
France immediately mobilized to provide initial emergency aid to the affected populations. An initial funding of EUR 12 million has been put in place for the benefit of the United Nations and NGOs acting in the affected areas. A plane chartered by the Crisis and Support Center of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs left for Gaziantep with 40 tonnes of equipment on board which will be handed over to AFAD and the International Office for Migration (IOM ).
The Turkish government announced the transfer of 100 billion TL to government institutions (5 billion EUR) in addition to 1 billion TL to AFAD. At the same time, several measures have been taken at the government level to help the victims:
- For households: aid of 10,000 TL (500 EUR) will be paid to each affected family, as well as aid of 15,000 TL (over 1 year) in addition to relocation assistance of 5,000 TL.
- For businesses: The Central Bank has extended the deadlines associated with credit rediscounts (interest-free for up to 180 days) and introduced exemptions on the reserve requirements backed by new loans granted.
The Central Bank also reduced its interest rates again citing the earthquakes which should constitute a brake on growth in the short term but whose effect would be neutral in the medium term. This is the first interest rate cut since November. At half a percentage point, the decline was smaller than expected. The key rate now stands at 8.5%. This is the lowest level in three years.
While the chances of finding survivors are almost zero, the urgency is now to rescue the survivors and Türkiye is already thinking about reconstruction.More than 118,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged.98% of the homes destroyed by these earthquakes had been built before 1999 and were positioned directly on the seismic fault (i.e. before the great earthquake of August 17, 1999 in Izmit which caused the death of 17,000 people. after which the Turkish authorities had adopted new laws requiring the construction of buildings meeting anti-seismic standards).The president announced the construction of 200,000 new homes in March in the provinces affected by the earthquake, promising that those affected would be able to move in within a year. The restoration of historical and cultural sites that were damaged by the strong tremors is expected to begin next month.
After this unprecedented humanitarian tragedy, a reconstruction and resilience program for the benefit of the affected regions will be developed by the Turkish government.Experience shows that Türkiye remains particularly resilient in the face of difficulties, whether political, diplomatic, economic or in the face of natural disasters.
We are particularly heartbroken by this tragedy. We reiterate our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
Map produced by the French newspaper Le Monde showing the affected areas and the intensity of the earthquakes
Economic & business news from Türkiye
Türkiye records growth of 5.6% in 2022
The Turkish economy shows growth of 5.6% in 2022, including growth in Q4 2022 of 3.5%. These figures exceed all the expectations of economists who were counting on 2022 growth of around 5.2% and growth in Q4 2022 of 2.8%. Per capita income increased to USD 10,655 in 2022 (compared to USD 9,539 in 2021), exceeding the USD 10,000 mark for the first time since 2017.
Finance and insurance activities as well as consumption are the sectors which contributed significantly to GDP growth, increasing by 21.8% and 19.7% respectively. The other leading sectors are service activities (11.7%), professional and administrative services (9.9%) and information and communication activities (8.7%). The Administration, education, human health and social action sector (4.8%), the real estate sector (4.3%) as well as industry (3.3%) also contributed to growth but to a limited extent but lesser extent. The agricultural sector recorded a slight increase of 0.6%. As for the construction sector, it recorded a drop of 8.4%. The share of household consumption expenditure in GDP amounted to 57.5%. Exports of goods and services increased by 9.1% and imports by 7.9% in 2022.
Source: Ekonomim, February 28, 2023
Univar Solutions buys Turkish company Kale Kimya
Univar Solutions, a leading global provider of solutions for users of ingredients and specialty chemicals, announced the signing of an agreement to acquire Kale Kimya, a leading Turkish distributor of specialty chemicals. This acquisition will enable Univar to advance its strategy aimed at developing its Ingredients and Specialties activities, its geographic reach as well as its product portfolio.
Kale Kimya is indeed a leading regional distributor of specialty chemicals and well known in the beauty, personal care, and domestic and industrial cleaning markets. The company represents more than 20 producers and serves valuable customers while providing extensive technical support with fully equipped application laboratories. Kale Kimya also plays a key role in sourcing through a wide range of logistics options through local warehouses in Türkiye and the region. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Closing of the acquisition, which is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2023, is pending certain regulatory approvals.
Source: Turkchem, January 24, 2023
EBRD acquires USD 59 million stake from DeFacto
Noventiq, formerly known as Softline, has acquired the Turkish company Makronet Bilgi Teknolojileri, active since 2000 in the information technology sector and one of the largest business partners of Microsoft Cloud Service Provider in Türkiye. Noventiq is a global provider of solutions and services in the areas of digital transformation and cybersecurity.
The company entered the Turkish market 15 years ago with big goals of rapid growth. It works with hundreds of expert IT service providers in addition to being a top business partner of many IT giants operating in Türkiye such as Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Cisco, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft , Palo Alto, Vmware...
With this acquisition, Noventiq aims to improve its experience and will be able to acquire new capabilities and skills. Noventiq customers will also benefit from Makronet's unique platform, MyAdmin, which was globally awarded by Microsoft in 2022; it is a solution that simplifies and optimizes the management and operation of customers' CSP assets. It will complement Noventiq's ActivePlatform which helps with the digital transformation of the customer ecosystem.
Source: Makronet, January 19, 2023
Noventiq acquires Makronet, historic Microsoft partner
Noventiq, formerly known as Softline, has acquired the Turkish company Makronet Bilgi Teknolojileri, active since 2000 in the information technology sector and one of the largest business partners of Microsoft Cloud Service Provider in Türkiye.
Noventiq is a global provider of solutions and services in the areas of digital transformation and cybersecurity. The company entered the Turkish market 15 years ago with big goals of rapid growth. It works with hundreds of expert IT service providers in addition to being a top business partner of many IT giants operating in Türkiye such as Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Cisco, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft , Palo Alto, Vmware...
With this acquisition, Noventiq aims to improve its experience and will be able to acquire new capabilities and skills. Noventiq customers will also benefit from Makronet's unique platform, MyAdmin, which was globally awarded by Microsoft in 2022; it is a solution that simplifies and optimizes the management and operation of customers' CSP assets. It will complement Noventiq's ActivePlatform which helps with the digital transformation of the customer ecosystem.
Source: Makronet, January 19, 2023
L’Oréal Türkiye transforms its production site into a water-friendly factory
Carrying out various projects as part of the "L'Oréal for the Future" sustainable development program, L'Oréal Türkiye transformed its production site located in Istanbul in order to recycle and reuse 100% of industrial water. This major transformation will save 10 million liters of water each year, the equivalent of the daily water consumption of approximately 53,000 Istanbul residents. L'Oréal Türkiye has thus become the 7th country in the Group, which has a total of 40 factories around the world, to have transformed its site into a water-friendly factory after Mexico, Spain, Russia and Italy. , Belgium and China. The transformation was completed after 2.5 years and was carried out with an investment of 14 million TL.
The L'Oréal Group has implemented numerous actions worldwide to ensure sustainable water management: optimization of consumption, development of water reprocessing, recycling and reuse projects on production sites. The group advocates the importance of taking urgent action to save water due to climate change. It plans to transform all of its sites by 2030 so that they are all able to recycle water 100%.
Source: Ekonomim, January 23, 2023
Turkish Borusan invests 15 million EUR in Romania
Borusan Mannesmann, a subsidiary of Borusan Holding, one of Türkiye's leading industrial conglomerates, is set to make its second investment in Europe by building a steel tube processing plant in Romania. Cost of investment: 15 million EUR. The factory, which will be built on a production and storage area with an area of 4,800 m2, will carry out cutting and processing work on cylindrical tubes used in shock absorbers, reserve tubes and special-purpose monotubes. It will notably serve shock absorber manufacturers in the automotive supply chain. Scheduled to be operational in 2026, it aims to manufacture 10,000 tonnes of shortened shock absorber tubes.
Technologies such as short cutting, brushing and line washing will be used. Construction work will begin in March 2023. Once completed, the factory will employ 50 to 60 people with the aim of increasing the number of employees by 3 over the next two years. Founded in 1944 to trade iron and steel, the Borusan group is today an industrial giant that operates in 11 countries and 3 continents. Its areas of activity include steel, distribution, logistics, energy and automobiles among others.
Source: Haber Döviz, January 31, 2023
Türkiye produced 2.4 million chicken meat in 2022
Chicken meat production in Türkiye reached 2.4 million tonnes in 2022, an increase of 7.7% year-on-year for 1.3 billion chickens slaughtered (+8.4% compared to 2021). 19.8 billion chicken eggs were produced, a figure up 2.6% year-on-year. The Turkish poultry industry has developed significantly over the last 20 years, joining the group of main poultry producing countries and acquiring the rank of a major exporting country of poultry products. Most companies active in the sector are vertically integrated and have their own feed factories, hatcheries, slaughterhouses and processing workshops or even their own distribution network.
Source: Anadolu Agency, February 14, 2023
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