Türkiye is close to an agreement with the World Bank to finance a $4 billion railway project that would cross the third bridge over Istanbul's Bosporus, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said.
“We are very close to finalization” for as much as $3 billion or 3 billion euros, Uraloğlu told Bloomberg on Monday, adding that technical details of the loan package are still being negotiated.
Once finalized, Türkiye will likely hold an auction for the project’s construction together with the World Bank, potentially in the early months of 2025, he said.
Türkiye had held talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to finance the project, following a $51 billion pledge by the Gulf country to invest in Türkiye. Uraloğlu has previously said the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) could also provide financing.
The railway would cross the Yavuz Sultan Selim suspension bridge, one of the longest and widest of its kind in the world, which was built for $3 billion under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to link Istanbul’s European and Asian sides. Two other bridges connect two sides of the city, home to nearly 16 million.
The minister on Tuesday in a speech at the International Road Federation (IRF) World Congress 2024 held in Istanbul reiterated the World Bank's interest in the project.
"We are pleased to see that international credit institutions have recently shown great interest in the railway project that will pass through the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, one of the most important routes of the Development Road project," he said.
"I would especially like to express the close interest of the World Bank."
President Erdoğan has previously promoted the new rail project as part of the Development Road project from Iraq to Europe.
Last fall, the president on return from the G-20 meeting announced they would work jointly with the UAE on the $17 billion project that envisages linking the port in the south of Iraq by rail and road to the border with Türkiye and forward to Europe.
Erdoğan, in his statement to the media, said at the time: "(Sheikh) Mohammed Bin Zayed (Al Nahyan), in particular, made a much more determined suggestion on this issue."
"Let's not prolong this matter; let our friends finish the negotiations in 60 days, and let's lay the foundations immediately and hit the road," Erdoğan said. "They feel excitement for the (project) and we have given the necessary instructions to both our Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and our Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu."
A preliminary agreement between Türkiye, Iraq, Qatar and the UAE to cooperate on the Development Road project was signed in April this year during Erdoğan's visit to Baghdad.
