Never trust the Turkish state

Turkey pressured Sweden to guarantee construction projects worth billions
Published 23 August 2022 at 08.12
FOREIGN. When Sweden wanted to side with Turkey by guaranteeing a loan of 3 billion for the Turkish state's railway project, the authority Exportkreditnämnden, EKN, discovered that the company that would carry out the construction had connections to Putin. But then Turkey pressured the Swedish state to approve the deal anyway, writes DN.


The Turkish company Rönesans has been alleged to have connections to both Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When EKN asked questions about the company's connections to Russia, owner Erman Ilicak offered to travel to Stockholm to reassure EKN. According to DN, Ilicak is one of the richest residents in Turkey and has, among other things, been involved when Erdogan and Putin settled their billion-dollar deals.

However, EKN declined the visit. But then a letter arrived from the Turkish government's Ministry of Finance, which pointed out that the company is owned by Turkish owners and not Russian ones.

"Therefore, we kindly expect the Swedish government and EKN to continue to support the project," the Turkish government representative wrote.

Shortly afterwards, EKN approved the support and signed the guarantee.