S econd Annual Marine Money Istanbul Ship Finance Forum

Transkript

1 Levent Özgü, Cemal Onaran, Recep Bafltu, Ünal Gökmen, Eyüp Y ld r m Pulat Akçin, Hakan Atitürk Christoph Toepfer, Lorenz Weinstabl, Nuri Sonay MARINE - FINANCE COOPERATION DISCUSSED DEN Z - F NANS fib RL MASAYA YATIRILDI i kinci Marine Money stanbul Gemi Finans Forumu, 7 Nisan 2005 Perflembe günü stanbul da, Swissotel - The Bosphorous da düzenlendi. Marine Money Yunanistan dan Mia Jensen ve Kevin Oates n organize etti i foruma içlerinde 87 armatör ve armatörlük temsilcisi, 91 bankac, 22 avukat n da bulundu u toplam 250 kifli kat ld. Gün boyu, Türk ve dünya denizcilik sektörünün en önde gelen isimleri ile uluslararas platformda öne ç kan kredi kurumlar n n yöneticileri ve temsilcileri bir aradayd. Forumun aç l fl konuflmalar n Kevin Oates ve Marine Money International dan Peder Bogen gerçeklefltirdi. Ulaflt rma Bakan Binali Y ld r m foruma kat lamad ; ancak kendisini temsilen dan flman Osman Tural bir konuflma yapt. Baltic Exchange in seçilmifl ancak henüz resmen göreve bafllamam fl baflkan Michael Drayton, konuflmas n n ard ndan bir sürpriz yapt. Drayton, DTO Meclis Baflkan Erol Yücel ve Yönetim Kurulu Baflkan Metin Kalkavan a y llar boyu süregelen dostluk ve iflbirli ine istinaden birer teflekkür hediyesi sundu. S econd Annual Marine Money Istanbul Ship Finance Forum was held on Thursday, April 7, 2005, at Swissotel The Bosphorus in Istanbul. Organized by Mia Jensen and Kevin Oates of Marine Money Greece, the forum was participated in by total of 250 individuals including 87 shipowners and shipowners representatives, 91 bankers, and 22 lawyers. The major players in the Turkish and world maritime industry, and the managers and representatives of the major international credit institutions were together all day long. Opening remarks were delivered by Kevin Oates and by Peder Bogen of Marine Money International. Binali Y ld r m, Turkish Minister of Transport, was not able to participate in the forum, but his counselor Osman Tural delivered a speech in representation of the Minister. Michael Drayton, Chairman-Elect of the Baltic Exchange made a surprise after his speech. Drayton presented gratitude gifts to Erol Yücel, Assembly Chairman, and Metin Kalkavan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Chamber of Shipping, in recognition of the long-standing friendship and cooperation. Dr. Philip Rogers, Kevin Oates, Simon Chattrabhuti Burcu Göçmen, Robert Yüksel Y ld r m, Cihan Ergenç O uz Perker, Alexander Arkhipov 082

2 Kerem Kiper, Sualp Ürkmez Hüseyin Uyar, Mustafa Ayd n, Yavuz Kalkavan, Hakan Atefl, Hakk Deval, Murat Benar Metin Kalkavan, Kevin Oates, Erol Yücel lk sunumu HSH Nordbank n Denizcilik Risk Yöneticisi Dr. Christina Stahn yapt. Stahn, dünya ekonomisinin genel analizi ve ekonominin gelece ini nelerin bekledi iyle ilgili bir sunum gerçeklefltirdi. Ard ndan Galbraiths Ltd. den Simon Chattrabhuti ve Dr. Philip Rogers tanker ve kuru yük piyasas yla ilgili birer sunum yapt. Tanker piyasas için önümüzdeki senelerde parlak bir tablo çizilirken, kuru yük piyasas n n gelece ine daha karamsar bir bak fl vard. Genel Denizcilik Kiralama Müdürü Derya Teker de piyasayla ilgili görüfllerini aktard. Paneller ve sunumlar aras nda verilen kahve aralar nda taraflar k sa sohbetlere dald, panelde aktar lanlarla ilgili de erlendirmelerde bulundu. Ö le yeme inden önce Uluslararas Finans Paneli gerçeklefltirildi. Panelde DVB Bank N.V. K demli Baflkan Yard mc s Evan Cohen, GE Commercial Finance Deniz Finansman Yöneticisi Ronald Dal Bello, HSH Nordbank AG Yetkili Baflkan Yard mc s ve Denizcilik Bölümü Küresel Baflkan Harald Kuznik ile Caterpillar Financial Services K demli Uluslararas Muhasebe Müdürü Andreas Rahn konuflmac lard. nal Hukuk Bürosu ndan fieyma nal n moderatörlü ünü üstlendi i panelde Türk denizcilik sektörünün finansman hakk nda de erlendirmeler yap ld. Alternatif finans yöntemleri ö leden sonra kat l mc lara tan t ld. Salamon AG den Christian Salamon, Almanya da çok revaçta The first presentation was made by Dr. Christina Stahn, Risk Manager Shipping, HSH Nordbank. Stahn s presentation covered a general analysis of the global economy and the economic outlook of the world. Following Stahn, Simon Chattbhuti and Dr. Philip Rogers of Galbraiths Ltd. made a presentation on the tanker and dry cargo market. While a bright future was forecast for the tanker market, the general outlook for the dry cargo was rather pessimistic. Derya Teker, Chartering Manager of Geden Lines, presented her opinions about the market. The participants had brief conversations with each other and expressed their opinions during the coffee breaks between panels and presentations. The International Finance Panel was held before the luncheon. Evan Cohen, Senior Vice President of DVB Bank N.V., Ronald Dal Bello, Marine Finance Director of GE Commercial Finance, Harald Kuznik, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Shipping of HSH Nordbank AG, and Andreas Rahn, Senior International Account Manager of Caterpillar Financial Services, delivered a speech. fieyma nal of Inal Law Office was the moderator of the panel. The financing of the Turkish maritime industry was discussed during the panel. The alternative finance products were introduced to the Frank Bünte, Harald Kuznik Hakk Deval, Metin Düzgit, Mustafa Gökhan Bilgili fiadan Kaptano lu, Baflak Özdemir, Orhan Karademir, Erhan Bayraktar MARINE & COMMERCE APRIL

3 Sadi Pencap, Tomurcuk A ao lu, lhan Yirmibeflo lu Mesut Cesur, Engin Bayraktutan, Ali Soyer, Tansel Mercan Lorenz Weinstabl, Mehmet Aksoy olan KG Finance in, DVB & NFC Shipping Funds dan Bote De Vries slami Finans n ve Jeffries & Company Inc den Stefanie Kasselakis ABD Sermaye Marketi nin denizcilere getirdi i avantajlar anlatt. S ra DNV Türkiye nin Genel Müdürü Günay Sürenkök te idi. Sürenkök, klas n geliflimi ve önemi ile ilgili bir sunum yapt. Son panel Türk gemi infla sanayinin durumu ve yerel bankalar n sanayiye deste iyle ilgiliydi. Moderatörlü ünü Pelikan Denizcilik ten Meltem Ayd n n yapt panelde Finansbank Genel Müdürü ve Yönetim Kurulu Üyesi Sinan fiahinbafl, Garanti Bankas Genel Müdürü Ergun Özen, Denizbank CEO su Hakan Atefl, Yard mc Grubu Baflkan Yard mc s Servet Yard mc ve Ariston Navigation Corp. CEO su John A. Xylas panelde konuflmac lard. Kapan fl konuflmas n gerçeklefltiren Metin Kalkavan, Marine Money e ve Türk denizcilik sektörüne katk da bulunan herkese teflekkür etti. Günün sonunda her kat l mc ve konuflmac n n ortak düflüncesi kesinlikle verimli ve yararl bir gün oldu u yönündeydi. Mia Jensen, Forumun üçüncüsünü 4 May s 2006 da düzenlenmeyi planlad klar n söyledi. & participants in the afternoon. Christian Salamon of Salamon AG talked about the advantages of the KG Finance, which was highly in demand in Germany, as well as Bote De Vries of DVB & NFC Shipping Funds about the advantages of Islamic Finance, and Stefanie Kasselakis of Jeffries & Company, Inc. talked about the advantages provided to the maritime industry by the US Capital Markets. Then it was the turn of Günay Sürenkök, Managing Director of DNV Turkey. Sürenkök made a presentation on the development and importance of class. The last panel was on the current situation of the Turkish shipbuilding industry and the support of the local banks to the industry. The moderator of the panel was Meltem Ayd n of Pelikan Shipping & Trading Ltd. Sinan fiahinbafl, General Manager and Board Member of Finansbank, Ergun Özen, President & CEO of Garanti Bank, Hakan Atefl, CEO of Denizbank, Servet Yard mc, Vice Chairman of Yard mc Group, and John A. Xylas, CEO of Ariston Navigation Corp. delivered a speech. Closing remarks were delivered by Metin Kalkavan. Kalkavan expressed his thanks to Marine Money and to everyone who contributes to the Turkish maritime industry. The common opinion of all the participants at the end of the day was that it was definitely a productive and beneficial day. Mia Jensen said the third of the Forum was scheduled to be held on May 4, & Ahmet Korman, Faruk Miras Oral Erdo an, Necdet Aksoy, Osman Yurtseven, Alk n Kalkavan, Frank Waschwill Tu rul Tokgöz, Derya Teker 084

4 TURKISH BANKS ALSO BEGIN TO BE ACTIVE IN THE SECTOR SEKTÖRDE ARTIK TÜRK BANKALARI DA VAR F inansbank Genel Müdürü ve Yönetim Kurulu Üyesi Sinan fiahinbafl, Garanti Bankas Genel Müdürü Ergun Özen, Denizbank CEO su Hakan Atefl, Yard mc Grubu Baflkan Yard mc s Servet Yard mc ve Ariston Navigation Corp. CEO su John A. Xylas Yerli Finans Ürünleri bafll kl panelde Türk gemi infla sanayini ele ald. Finansbank 2004 y l nda toplam 32 projeyi finanse etti ini belirtti. Bunlar n içinde 15 kimyasal tanker, 5 konteyner gemisi, 2 dökme yük gemisi, 6 ürün / petrol tankeri ve 4 baflka proje (tersane yat r mlar ve iflleyen sermaye) bulunuyordu. Toplam 467,900 DWT luk yat r m n toplam tutar da 441 milyon dolar oldu. fiahinbafl, Her sektörde risk vard r. Biz Denizbank, Finansbank ve Garanti Bankas olarak son 4 sene içerisinde gemi sahiplerini ve tersaneleri finanse ettik. Onlar da harika bir performans sergilediler. Biz her zaman onlar n yan nda, destekçileri olaca z. dedi. Garanti Bankas ise, 2 sene içinde, 35 gemiyi finanse ederek toplam yaklafl k 400 milyon dolarl k ifl hacmine ulaflt. Özen, uzmanl klar n gelifltirerek gelecekte de gemi infla ve gemi sahiplerine olan finansal desteklerini art rmaya devam edeceklerini söyledi. Ayr ca, uluslararas finans enstitüleri ile iflbirli ine girmek için yollar arayacaklar n ve uzun vadeli finansman sa layacaklar n da sözlerine ekledi. Özen, Türk denizcili inin problemlerine de de indi. ç hat denizcili i ve ulafl m için denizlerin pay n n çok az olmas n, tersanelerdeki yer yetersizli ini ve tersanelerin 3-17 bin DWT luk kimyasal tanker inflas nda yo unlaflmas n n yak n zamanda marketin doyuma ulaflmas na neden olabilece ini belirtti. Denizbank, 2003 y l ndan 2005 Mart ay sonuna kadar toplam 51 gemiyi finanse etti. Deniz sektörüne sa lanan toplam kredi 2003 M r. Sinan fiahinbafl, General Manager and Board Member, Finansbank; Mr. Ergun Özen, President & CEO, Garanti Bank; Mr. Hakan Atefl, CEO, DenizBank; Mr. Servet Yard mc, Vice Chairman, Yard mc Group; and Mr. John A. Xylas, CEO, Ariston Navigation Corp. discussed the Turkish shipbuilding industry in the panel named Domestic Finance Products. Finansbank financed total of 32 projects in out of these projects were chemical tankers, 5 container vessels, 2 bulkers, 6 product/oil tankers, and 4 other projects (shipyard investments and operating capital). Total amount of the 467,900 DWT investment was 441 million dollars. fiahinbafl said, There is risk in all sectors. As Denizbank, Finansbank and Garanti Bank, we have financed the shipowners and shipyards for the last four years. And they have demonstrated an excellent performance. We will always be on their side and support them. As for the Garanti Bank, then bank has financed total of 35 ships in 2 years and reached a transaction volume of 400 million dollars. Özen said they would continue their support to the shipowners and the shipbuilding industry also in the future by increasing their specialization in the sector. Özen added that they would look for ways to collaborate with the international financial institutions and to provide long-term financing. Also talking about the problems of the Turkish shipping industry, Özen stated the fact that the share of the maritime is very low in domestic transportation, that the shipyards lack land, and that the shipyards focus on building chemical tankers of 3 17 thousand DWT would lead to saturation of the market soon. Denizbank financed total of 51 ships from 2003 till the end of March Total credit lines provided to the shipping industry was 104 million dollars in 2003, 320 million dollars in 2004, 085

5 y l nda 104, 2004 te 320, 2005 Mart ay sonu itibariyle 364 milyon dolar olarak gerçekleflti. Atefl, foruma kat lan Türk bankas say s n n artmas n n Türk bankalar n n denizcili i bir nifl market olarak ele almaya bafllad n n göstergesi oldu unu söyledi. Sunacaklar olanaklar n zaman içinde artaca n da söyleyen Atefl, sözlerini flöyle sürdürdü: flimiz risk almak ama önce onu hesaplamak. Uluslararas dünyan n çok gerisindeyiz bu çok aç k, ama çok çal flaca z. Bu uzun vadeli bir ifl. Birçok inifli ve ç k fl var. & and 364 million dollars as of end of March Atefl said the increasing number of Turkish banks participating in the forum is an indicator of the fact that they began viewing the shipping industry as a niche market. Stating that the possibilities they offer would increase in time, Atefl added, Our job is to take risks, but before that to calculate it. We are far back of the world, that s clear, but we will work hard. This is a long-term business. It has many ascents and descents. & M N RÖPORTAJ // MINI INTERVIEW Üç yerel bankan n yöneticileriyle forum s ras nda mini bir röportaj gerçeklefltirdik. Türk gemi infla sanayi son y llarda ciddi bir ivme kazand. Bu ivmeye yabanc bankalar da çok olumlu yaklaflt lar. Ama art k baflta Finansbank, Garanti ve Denizbank olmak üzere Türkiye de gemi infla sektörüne yöneldi. 3 banka güçlerini birlefltirip bir konsorsiyum oluflturamaz m? Sinan fiahinbafl: Öyle bir konsorsiyum yok. Ergun Özen: Riski paylaflmak bankac l n ruhunda vard r. Biz baflka projelerde de sürekli çok ileriye giden bankalar z. Onun için denizcilik finansman konusunda da birbirimizi rakip görmüyoruz aç kças. Riski paylaflarak daha büyük projelerin alt na girmekten çekinmeyiz. Sinan fiahinbafl: Zaten biz bir araday z. Bizim ifl yaflam d fl nda arkadafll m z da var. Onun için her fleyi oturup kendi aram zda konufluyoruz. Boyutlar n büyüdü ü ortamda da riski paylaflmak gerekli, çok do ru. Risk dediniz de, marketler düflünce yaklafl mlar n z ne olacak? Hakan Atefl: Zaten üç banka da marketler düflükken bafllad k. Bu son 3-4 senede ç k fl çok h zl oldu. Marketler daha düflük seviyelerdeyken biz zaten vard k. Biz marketin son 10 sene önceki seviyelerine düflmesini beklemiyoruz. Dolay s yla düzeltme olacakt r belki. Ama bu düzeltme de çok fazla olmayacak. Olsa bile biz her zaman deste imizi devam ettirece iz. Ergun Özen: Sektördeki mevsimsellik sadece bu sektöre özel de il. Her banka bir sektöre girerken o sektörün geneline bakarsa olmaz, biz sektöre girerken flirketin kendi durumuna daha çok bakar z aç kças. Denizcilik sektöründe de tan d kça, çok iyi insanlar ve gerçekten güçlü yap lar oldu unu görüyoruz. Onun için bir kriz geldi i zaman tas tara toplay p buradan gidecek halimiz yok. We had a mini interview with the managers of the three local banks during the forum: The Turkish shipbuilding industry has gained a considerable momentum in recent years. Foreign banks also considered that momentum very favourably. But now, the Turkish banking sector as well, particularly Finansbank, Garanti Bank and Denizbank, has turned towards the shipbuilding industry in Turkey. Is it possible that these three banks come together to establish a consortium? Sinan fiahinbafl: There is no such a consortium. Ergun Özen: Sharing the risk is inherent to banking. We are the banks that constantly involve in other projects as well. So, frankly speaking, we do not consider each other as competitors. We do not hesitate to undertake bigger projects by sharing the risk. Ergun Özen, Sinan fiahinbafl, Hakan Atefl Sinan fiahinbafl: As a matter of fact, we are all together. We are also friends in our private lives. So, we come together and discuss everything. The risk should be shared in an environment where the dimensions get larger, that s correct. What will your approaches be if the markets go down? Hakan Atefl: In fact these three banks started at a time when the markets were low. The rise has been very fast during the last 3 to 4 years. We were there when the markets were at far lower levels. We do not expect the market to go down to the level seen 10 years ago. Consequently there might be a correction, but that would not be a big one. Even if it goes down to those levels, we will maintain our support all the time. Ergun Özen: Seasonality in the sector is not peculiar to this sector only. To tell the truth, when we enter a new sector, we consider the situation of the company in the first place, not the situation of the sector. As we get to know the shipping industry better, we see that there are very good people and really strong structures. So, we will not pack bag and baggage and leave this sector when a crisis strikes. MARINE & COMMERCE APRIL

6 FOREIGN FINANCIERS PLEASED WITH TURKISH SHIPPING INDUSTRY YABANCI F NANSÖRLER B ZDEN MEMNUN T ürk denizcili ine finansman konusunda destek veren 4 önemli kurumun yöneticileri Uluslararas Finans Paneli nde sorular yan tlad. Forum kapsam ndaki panelde konuflan yöneticiler, DVB Bank N.V. K demli Baflkan Yard mc s Evan Cohen, GE Commercial Finance Deniz Finansman Yöneticisi Ronald Dal Bello, HSH Nordbank AG Yetkili Baflkan Yard mc s ve Denizcilik Bölümü Küresel Baflkan Harald Kuznik ile Caterpillar Financial Services K demli Uluslararas Muhasebe Müdürü Andreas Rahn idi. Moderatörlü ü, Inal Hukuk Bürosu Müdürü fieyma nal yapt. Cohen, en büyük 30 denizcilik bankas n n denizcilik sanayine katk s n n yaklafl k 150 milyar dolar oldu unu belirtti. Bu 30 banka içinde ilk üç s ray HSH Nordbank, KfW ve RBS paylafl yor. Türk denizcili i hakk nda ne düflündükleri soruldu unda kurumlar n aç klamalar ndan Türk denizcilik sektörü ile çal flmaktan mutlu oldu u anlafl l yordu. Dal Bello Türk denizcilik sanayini çok seviyoruz. Sanayi ile iyi iliflkilere sahibiz. Asl nda büyük armatörleri daha çok seviyoruz. Kredileri do ru yap land rmal y z ki ne biz ne de gemi sahibi zor anlar yaflayal m. dedi. Cohen, uzun bir süredir Türkiye pazar nda rahat olduklar n belirtti. nal n gemi sahibi çok güvenilir olsa, tersaneler her zaman dolu olsa yani k sacas her fley mükemmel olsa bile sadece ülkenin isminin finansal konularda bir etkisi olur mu sorusuna Kuznik, Bir Türk armatörle yaflad m z talihsiz olaya ra men halen Türk armatörlere kredi vermeye devam ediyoruz. diye cevap verdi. Dal Bello ise, Türk bayrakl gemilerle ilgili bir sorunlar n n olmad - n çünkü uzmanlar n n limanlarda ortaya ç kabilecek her türlü sorunla ilgilendi ini söyledi. Kurumlar nas l müflterilerle çal flmak istediklerini de aç klad. HSH Nordbank AG nin, müflterilerinde arad ilk özellik fleffafl k. Ard ndan konsolide bir yap ya sahip olmas. Kuznik bu iki koflul sa land taktirde kararlar n da h zl al nabilece ini vurgulad. Rahn, Türk bankalar n n ileride rekabetçi olup olmayaca sorusunu Biz bafllad m zdan bu yana market çok de iflti. Bu s ralar yerel bankalarla çok büyük bir yar fl var. Bu market için tabii ki çok iyi ama bizim için kötü. fleklinde yan tlad. & M anagers of the four major financial institutions providing financial support to the Turkish shipping industry answered questions during the International Finance Panel. Mr. Evan Cohen, Senior Vice President, DVB Bank N.V.; Mr. Ronald Dal Bello, Director-Marine Finance, GE Commercial Finance; Mr. Harald Kuznik, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Shipping, HSH Nordbank AG; and Mr. Andreas Rahn, Senior International Account Manager, Caterpillar Financial Services, delivered a speech at the panel. The moderator of the panel was Mrs. fieyma nal, Principal, Inal Law Firm. Cohen said the contribution of the biggest 30 maritime banks to the shipping industry is approximately 150 billion US dollars. HSH Nordbank, KfW and RBS are at the top of these 30 financial institutions. The answers of the managers to the question regarding their opinions about the Turkish shipping industry implied they are pleased with working with it. We like the Turkish shipping industry very much. We have good relations with the industry. We should structure the loans correctly, so that neither the Turkish shipowners nor we suffer hard times. said Mr. Dal Bello. And Mr. Cohen said they had been very comfortable in the Turkish market for a long period of time. Mr. Kuznik s answer to Mrs. nal s question, Does only the name of the country have an effect in financial matters, even if the shipowner is very reliable, shipyards are always fully booked, in other words, everything is perfect? was, In spite of an unfortunate problem we had with a Turkish shipowner, we still continue extending loans to Turkish shipowners. And Mr. Dal Bello said they had had no problems with the Turkish flagged ships, because their experts dealt with any possible problems at ports. The financial institutions talked about the kind of customers they would like to work with. The first criterion the HSH Nordbank AG looks at is transparency. Second is thaving a consolidated structure. Kuznik emphasized that, if these two criteria were satisfied, decisions would be taken rapidly. As an answer to the question whether the Turkish banks would be competitive in the future, Rahn said, The market has changed to a great extent since we have started here. There is a big competition with the local banks recently. Of course, this is very good for the market, but not so for us. & 088

7 GEM FORUMU // MARINE MONEY WHY TURKISH SHIPYARDS? NEDEN TÜRK TERSANELER? T ürk gemi infla sanayinin son 10 y ldaki geliflimi çok etkileyici. Bir yabanc n n bak fl aç s yla bu geliflimi ve nedenlerini anlatmak isterim. Bu sözler forum kapsam nda bir konuflma yapan Ariston Navigation Corp. CEO su John A. Xylas a ait. Xylas, Türk tersanelerinin gemi inflada tercih edilirli inin hangi nedenlerle yüksek oldu unu anlatt. Xylas, Türk tersanelerinin sundu u sürprizsiz rekabetçi fiyatlar, zaman nda teslimat ve üretimde yüksek kalite sayesinde tercih edildi ini söyledi. Türk tersanelerinin bin DWT a kadar rekabetçi olaca n belirten Xylas, bunun nedenini tersanelerin konteyner gemilerinin ya da flimdiki gibi kimyasal tankerlerin, k sacas baz gemi tiplerinin inflas na odaklanmas ve bu sayede bu tiplerde uzmanlaflmas na ba lad. Xylas a göre tersanelerin ço unun özel olmas esnek bir iletiflim sistemine sahip olmalar n da beraberinde getiriyor. Bu durumda, tersane sahibine ulaflmak da kolay oluyor ve infla sürecinde yaflanabilecek problemler daha h zl bir flekilde afl labiliyor. Sonuç olarak düflük maliyetlerle yüksek kalitede üretim yap l yor. Türkiye nin Avrupa ya co rafi konumu itibariyle olan yak nl da bir art de er. Xylas bu durumu Avrupal armatörler için Türkiye oldukça yak n. Bu nedenle Çin ya da Japonya ya göre bir yak nl k avantaj na sahip. sözleriyle aç klad. Türk tersanelerinin Uzakdo u daki tersanelere göre bir avantaj da, geçmifl senelerde belirlenen gemi infla ücretlerinin daha sonradan artt r lmamas. Xylas, Türk tersanelerinin para kaybetseler dahi anlaflmadaki ücrete sad k kalmalar n n çok önemli oldu unu vurgulad. Xylas, sözlerini gemi infla finans konusunda Türk bankalar n n önemine de inerek bitirdi. Yerel bankalar Türk tersanelerini desteklemeli ki tersaneler müflterilerine rekabetçi fiyatlar sunabilsin. Daha çok Türk bankas n n Türk denizcilik sektörünü finanse etmesini bekliyoruz. & T he evolution of the Turkish shipbuilding industry during the last decade is very impressive. I would like to talk about this evolution and its reasons with the point of view of a foreigner. These words belong to Mr. John A. Xylas, CEO of the Ariston Navigation Corp., who delivered a speech at the forum.. Xylas talked about the reasons why the preferability of the Turkish shipyards is high in shipbuilding. Xylas said the Turkish yards are preferred owing to the competitive prices they offer without any surprising subsequent increases, as well as to timely delivery and high quality in production. Stating that the Turkish shipyards would be competitive in building vessels up to thousand DWT, Xylas said the reason of it is that these shipyards have focused on building container vessels, or as they currently do, chemical tankers, in short, they focused on building some specific types of vessels. Thus, they have been specialized in building those types. According to Xylas, the fact that most of the Turkish shipyards are private establishments enables them to have a flexible communication system, making it easier to get in touch with the owner of the shipyard and thus any problems that might arise during the course of shipbuilding can be rapidly solved. Turkey s geographical proximity to Europe is also another favourable value. Xylas said, Turkey is very close to the European shipowners. Therefore, the country has a proximity advantage to China or Japan. Another advantage of the Turkish shipyards to their Far Eastern counterparts is that they do not subsequently increase the shipbuilding prices determined in previous years. Xylas emphasized it is highly important that the Turkish shipyards remain true to the contract prices, even if they incur losses. Local banks should support the Turkish shipyards, so that the yards can offer competitive prices to their customers. We expect more Turkish banks to finance the Turkish shipbuilding industry, concluded Xylas. & MARINE & COMMERCE APRIL