New Turkish highway receiving financing

Financing is being made ready for a highway project in Turkey. The upgraded route will connect Turkey’s commercial centre, Istanbul, with the port city, and holiday destination, Izmir. Work will be carried out along a 45km stretch and also includes construction of a new suspension bridge. Some US$1.35 billion will come from Turkish banks including Akbank, Finansbank, Halk Bank, Garanti, Vakfbank, Yap ve Kredi Bank and Ziraat Bank. In all, the highway project is expected to cost $2.7 billion, with the contractors also supplying some of the funding necessary. The full financial package should be ready for the project by October 2012.