Üst Düzey "Rönesans YKB İpek Ilıcak Kayaalp" | 31 Mart 2016

As you said, we are organizing the second edition this year. We started this project for architecture and engineering faculty students. The theme of this competition is environmentally friendly systems, green buildings. With the slogan 'Design a Sustainable Future', we asked our young people to design a school project this year within the framework of environmentally friendly and green systems. Our starting point here is that we are a company operating in 21 countries, with over 40,000 employees. And in the regions we are present, we lead the development and change of the sector. We wanted to meet the young people who will shape the sector in the future. At the same time, we wanted them to work on sustainability projects while their design abilities are not yet confined to a certain mold. Why? Because the way to ensure that future generations live in healthier, more environmentally friendly buildings is to instill a culture of cooperation in the generations that will provide this service in the future. So we started this competition. There was a very good participation from university students, twice as many as the first year. A total of 1,934 students applied, 954 groups applied from 125 different universities. One aspect that was nice for me was that young people from different universities came together for this project. At the same time, what excites us as Rönesans is that we assigned a group of architects and engineers from the company to give seminars at universities. They visited 27 different universities in 17 different cities of Turkey. The students welcomed us with great enthusiasm, they met us at airports. For example, in Gaziantep, 600 students attended the seminar, filling the amphitheaters to capacity, chatting with us and asking questions without their teachers being there. So we reached a total of 6,500 young people. I think this is very nice because a learning process is taking place here. In addition, we invited some students to Istanbul and organized technical tours to our green buildings. So this competition is a project that excites us and we really like.

Yes, at the award ceremony, the famous French designer Christophe will come to Turkey just for this event. Also, Turkish architects like Murat Tabanlıoğlu, Murat Kader Sefer Çağlar, and our company's founder Erman Bey, who is a construction graduate, will come. There will be a workshop with the students. This will be a good thing because we will bring together the students with both foreign and Turkish architects and engineers who shape this sector and have a say in it. We will enable them to present their projects. We hope their horizons will be opened. During this competition, the evaluation was done by a jury. This jury consisted of experts from 10 different universities in Turkey in the fields of building materials, technology, energy. For example, from Boğaziçi University and İnönü University. They evaluated the winners based on criteria such as social and environmental sustainability, the functions specified in the specifications, the location and layout of the site, and the originality of the designs. And on April 5th, the awards will be given and the winners will be announced.

Let me talk about the green buildings we have built. Actually, a first in Turkey, the TED Rönesans College, which started education in 2014-2015, is a project of ours in Küçükyalı. There we received Turkey's first LEED Gold certificate. In addition, our Mecidiyeköy office project has a LEED Gold certificate. Also, the Rönesans Tower, which we sold to the Alliance Group and later became Alliance Tower, is Turkey's first LEED Platinum certified office building. In Küçükyalı, next to that school, we have an office campus. Turkcell and a German company moved their headquarters there. This is Turkey's first LEED Gold certified office campus. We also have such projects in Russia. Actually, we are achieving firsts in Turkey in this area. In these certification processes, there are different certificates. We follow the LEED certificate, for example, there is also the British BREEAM certification. There are many areas to consider; it requires different expertise. But generally, what is needed? For example, it is more costly, isn't it? It is more costly. What do they look at? For example, they first look at the land of the building. Was there a previous building on this land? For instance, a land in a forest or a land that previously had a building is more suitable for these criteria. Apart from that, erosion control on the land, and during construction, the minimum release of sediments, good use of air and light, minimization of water, energy, and waste, and the materials used during construction are technical issues. Our company is not very focused on green buildings? Actually, as I said, you proceed integrated within the processes from the beginning, and if there is expertise in the company, it is a process you can follow. We have architects and engineers with this expertise. But within this framework, two years ago we started a project to increase the number of these people in the company and to follow this as an integrated process not only for architects and engineers but also for those working in proposal, procurement, etc. We encouraged our employees to participate in this certification process. In this context, 40 people received this certification, and 70 people are continuing in this three-stage exam. So our aim is to be a leader in this area in the regions we are present. Because if we look at the concept of sustainability in the construction sector, population growth and migration are very high, and with technology, the need for superstructure projects like schools and hospitals, and infrastructure projects like roads and bridges continues to increase. As long as there are people, building activities will increase and continue. But when we look, 40% of energy consumption and 30% of water consumption in the world occur in buildings. Therefore, efficiency here is very important. Using solutions that minimize waste, water, and energy consumption is not a choice but a necessity in the long run. In this sense, we have to follow these to be a global brand.

In Turkey, these projects are carried out within the framework of public-private partnership, we call them PPP. What are these projects? We deliver highly equipped, good technology hospital buildings to the state, we deliver city hospitals, and we receive rent and service income over a 25-year period. Within the framework of these projects, we will first open Yozgat this year in October. In addition, we will start construction of our projects in Istanbul İkitelli, Bursa, and Elazığ. Construction of our hospital in Adana continues. We have a total of 5 city hospitals in our portfolio: Adana, Yozgat, Elazığ, Bursa, and Istanbul İkitelli. In addition, we are responsible for the delivery of rehabilitation and physical therapy units within 7 hospital complexes. In 2016, we will open the Yozgat project, start construction of other projects, and continue with Adana. At the same time, their financial closings take a process, about 6-7 months. We will concentrate on the financial closings of Elazığ and Bursa. In this way, we are making a total investment of 4.7 billion euros in Turkey by 2020, reaching a capacity of 9,500 beds. One nice aspect is that we are proceeding with a French infrastructure fund in this investment, in Adana and Yozgat. It is a Paris-based fund. So think, a fund from France comes and invests in a hospital in Yozgat and Adana. We are a pioneering group that enables such foreign resources to be transferred to Turkey. In addition, this year in our activities in Turkey, we have a real estate investment company, Rönesans Gayrimenkul Yatırım. The Singapore sovereign wealth fund is our partner with a 20% stake. With their funds and Singapore's resources, we had shopping mall projects in Samsun, Maraş, Urfa. This year we will finish a project in Maltepe, Istanbul. At the location I mentioned earlier in Küçükyalı with the office campus and school, we have an open-air shopping mall, a very nice mall, and next to it a hotel project with 300 rooms. In İzmir, we have 3 projects to develop. These are our investments in Turkey.

Yes, foreign interest in the sector continues, exactly. As I said, they trust companies like us when coming here because this is actually a very difficult project to complete the financing leg, relations with the ministry, and the construction phase together. These funds have previous experience abroad; they make such investments in many parts of the world with the right groups. This is a very good indicator of their long-term belief in Turkey, and it makes us all happy. Similarly, GIC is also our partner in this real estate investment portfolio, which also makes us happy and proud.

Now, if we look generally, the Turkish contracting sector entered Russia in 1988, carried out about 2,000 projects there, and these projects have a value of 60 billion dollars. Russia is a big market, even the biggest market. Now, looking at the number of projects, due to recent developments, there is no problem with existing contracts, but there may be a contraction in new business. As Rönesans, we are a group established in Russia in 1993. Our company's founder Erman Ilıcak founded the company in St. Petersburg, and we grew by doing turnkey projects for local and foreign private capital companies. Today, you can see the Rönesans signature in many projects from commercial real estate to residential projects, industrial facilities to factories. And in 1999, we overcame a crisis in Russia and grew out of it with average annual growth rates of 40%. There was another crisis in 2008, and in 2013 there was a consolidation in the Russian market due to the sanctions imposed by Europe on Russia because of the Ukraine crisis, which reduced the rate of private investors. We managed all these crises and maintained our presence and leadership position in Russia. Our company's owner Erman Bey knows Russia very well, knows the Russians well, understands the Russia-Turkey business model, and is a visionary. In 2008, he thought that if we want to be in the top 10 in the world and be a valuable and reliable Turkish brand known worldwide, we need to diversify our product range. Right after 2008, we entered Turkmenistan in 2009, and there we carried out many projects from building construction to industrial tests. Let me also talk about Europe. Today, when we look, Russia's share in total turnover has come to 40%. Looking back, we can see a very successful strategy implemented since 2008. There is no problem with our ongoing contracts, our work is paid on time, our relations with banks are very good, and construction is a long-term business with a minimum of 30 months. We will continue our leadership position in the market, concentrating on our work as always, representing our work with the best quality, reliability, safety, and honesty.

As I said, with Erman Bey's focus on this region after 2008, in 2009 we first bought a 10% stake in Porr, the second largest construction company in Austria. Then in 2013, we acquired 100% of a Swiss company called Alpine Bau, which built the Gotthard Base Tunnel. This tunnel is one of the most serious and prestigious projects in this field in Europe and even in the world, and we are proud as the entire Rönesans family that there is a Turkish signature here. This tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world, a 57-kilometer railway tunnel with a depth of 2,100 meters. It will open in June. With this acquisition, we achieved this. Then in 2014, we acquired Heitkamp, a 125-year-old German engineering firm. This company has serious experience in industrial facilities, infrastructure, and power plants, with significant work experience in Scandinavian countries and Europe. Then last year, we acquired a company that is the 6th largest construction company in the Netherlands, founded in 1887 and 100% publicly traded. The acquisition was a challenging process. Today, this company has very good projects and experience in transportation and infrastructure. Today, we employ 2,000 people in Europe and will reach a turnover of 1 billion euros in Europe this year. As I said, with the strategy we formed in 2008, through organic and inorganic growth, we have reached this point in a product range from superstructure to infrastructure and industrial facilities in Europe.

In social responsibility, we have an education foundation, the Rönesans Education Foundation, headed by Erman Bey's wife, Jale Hanım. So far, we have provided 5,500 university students with non-repayable scholarships. Only this year, we are giving scholarships to 2,000 students. But another first in Turkey and a project that makes me very happy: we not only give scholarships to these students, but also started a system called Rev Academy, a first in Turkey. These scholarship recipients meet online and will receive online training in personal development, training that will prepare them for social and professional life. We will bring them together in corporate social responsibility projects. In addition, the foundation runs book campaigns. So far, 170,000 books have been collected from shopping malls, and we have donated 80,000 books from our own donations to schools. Also, Erman Bey is a graduate of TED College and was a basketball player there, so we are the main sponsor of the TED College men's and women's basketball teams.