This assessment comes from the official statement of a representative of Turkish Yildirim Holding, one of the bidders. Responding to numerous inquiries about the holding’s interest in the ISPA the statement emphasizes: “Yes, we are participating in the tender. We have seven years of painstaking and systematic work on this project under our belt. We are not just participants – we are, without exaggeration, one of the key bidders”.
In this regard, the representative of Yildirim Holding emphasizes that so far only the first stage of the tender, in which EIGHT companies participated, has been completed. According to its results, THREE participants have passed to the second stage. They will have to pass a complex, extensive and responsible selection, and everyone has an equal chance to become the winner.
“In this regard, I would like to appeal to everyone, especially the authorities: be extremely careful in public statements and interpretations. Inaccurate statements can distort the perception of what is happening and mislead the public,” reads the statement of the representative of the holding. – A separate appeal – to Mr. Igor Gros. If you decide to talk about the participants of the tender, be consistent and frank to the end. There is an impression that, apart from Romania, no one is involved in the process. This is not true. I would also like to remind you that all information about the tender is confidential. As you yourself emphasized, 100% of the shares belong to the EBRD bank. This means that the state has no direct relation to the sale of the project, nor to the possession of full information at this stage. I ask everyone to take these facts into account and to approach the topic with maximum responsibility”.
A separate appeal to Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu is related to the fact that in a TV program last week, he confirmed that Romania has officially applied for the acquisition of the Giurgiulesti International Free Port. Not a word was said about the existence of other bidders.
The ultimate beneficiary of the Giurgiulesti port is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which on April 14 this year announced a tender process to find a new strategic investor for the ISPD. The bank said that the process is being conducted in full coordination with the Moldovan government.
At the same time, judicial proceedings continue around this asset due to suspicions of fraudulent actions during the transfer of control over the port from the Azerbaijani investor to the Dutch company Danube Logistics SRL. The EBRD bought the shares of this very company (100%), acting as the owner of the port, in 2021.
According to unconfirmed information from various sources, the EBRD during the tender process wants not only to find a new strategic investor for ISPD, but also to find a mutually acceptable solution with the former owners to settle all legal proceedings.
