Energy Market Regulatory Authority (” EMRA”) Announcement (03/04/2020)

• Legal persons who hold an associate degree or generation license operating in the electricity market and real and legal persons who have signed a connection agreement within the scope of unlicensed production activity term liabilities have been delayed for 3 months.

The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, delivered a speech on April 3, 2020 announcing the additional measures the government will undertake to contain the COVID-19 pandemic (03/04/2020)

In 30 metropolitan areas, including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, Bursa, Adana, alongside Zonguldak:

• All entrances to and exits from these cities through the sea, air, and roads (e.g., by public transit, private vehicles or foot) are temporarily prohibited as of 12:00 AM on Friday, 03.04.2020 for 15 days.
• The only exemptions to the restrictions on city entries and exits are those providing logistic services of goods and materials necessary for the continuity of commercial activities, primarily those fulfilling basic needs (e.g., sanitary goods and food), pharmaceuticals and medical materials, and possessing documents such as delivery notes or invoices; those providing commercial load or passenger transportation in Turkey and those providing international load transportation, as a part of a transit travels; for the transportation of materials necessary for the production and security of energy required by the natural gas, electricity and petroleum sectors, and possessing duty certificates or delivery notes; managers, employees, and business owners whose businesses are still operational and whose residences are in a different city than the one in which their businesses are located, and possessing their certificates of residence and social security institution registrations; those assigned to duty for the continuity of public services, primarily healthcare and security, and possessing documents proving their duties and identities; and those that possess Travel Permits issued by governorships and district governorships. 

In all cities in Turkey,

• Individuals born after 01.01.2000 are under curfew as of 12:00 AM on 03.04 2020. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, through a second circular delivered to the provincial governorships on 05.04 2020, exempted individuals who are both aged between 18 and 20 and are either civil servants, contracted personnel or employees in public institutions or organizations, employees in the private sector, or seasonal agricultural workers from this restriction;
• Additional measures will be taken to reduce the intra-city traffic starting from 12:00 AM on 03.04.2020.
• All individuals are required to wear masks in market places, markets and places where collective works are performed; and
• Individuals are prohibited from moving in groups without following the appropriate measure of social distance in squares, avenues, and streets.

Change in the course and additional course hours of the administrators and teachers of the Ministry of National Education (03/04/2020)

• Those who do not have an official duty in the 2019-2020 academic year and those who work in pre-school education, primary education, secondary education, special education, and non-formal education institutions, and foreign education institutions where foreign nationals are trained, deemed to have done their duties and benefit from the additional fee
• In this context, the payers are obliged to fulfill these duties without paying additional course fees.

Statement made by a Representative of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (03/04/2020)

• Passengers will not be admitted to the ferry, metro, metrobus, and city lines ferries without a mask.

The Presidency of the Republic of Turkey published force majeure guidelines for public tender contracts (“Guidelines “) in the Official Gazette. (02/04/2020)

• Guidelines require contracting public authorities to consult with the Ministry of Treasury and Finance before issuing a decision. During this review, the contracting public authority will categorize an outbreak as a force majeure event when:
• the event is not caused by the contractor’s fault;
• the event prevents the contractor from performing the contract; and
• the contractor is unable to remove the effects of the event.
• Pursuant to the contracting public authority’s review, (i) the duration of the contract may be extended to allow the performance of a contract, or (ii) the contract may be terminated. The Guidelines do not provide any clarification on whether the public authority’s decision is limited to the contractor’s request.
• On a separate note, Article 10 of the Public Tender Contracts Law No. 4735 states that a contractor should apply to the relevant public authority in writing within 20 days after the force majeure event occurs.

Statement by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services (02/04/2020)

• Chronic patients whose medical reports and prescriptions expire after 1 January will still be valid until a second announcement.
• Medicines and Medical Equipment costs will be covered by SGK.
• The obligation to implement the Biometric Authentication System in private healthcare providers has been suspended until the next announcement.

Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Authority (”BRSA”) introduced certain measures facilitating financial institutions’ compliance with their reporting requirements. (02/04/2020)

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a limited number of staff is conducting operational processes. In response, the BRSA introduced the following measures:
• The deadlines for the year-end (31.12.2019) and interim (31.03.2020) financial reports; independent audit reports; activity reports; and the deadlines for other notifications, and that banks, independent audit institutions, rating agencies, asset management companies leasing, factoring and financing companies must submit to the BRSA and other relevant authorities, in accordance with the regulations below, are extended for 60 days. The extension for the deadlines in respect of the notifications in paragraph (ii) above will be applicable until 31.12.2020.
• The original deadlines were specified in the Regulation on Banks’ Credit Transactions (” Regulation”), Regulation on Banks’ Procedures and Principles for Accounting Practices and Document Retention, Regulation on the Principles and Procedures concerning Banks’ Preparation and Publishing of Annual Report, Regulation on Banks’ Internal Systems and Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (”ICAAP”), Regulation on Banks’ Independent Audit, Regulation on the Procedures and Principles regarding the Notification of Executives’ Appointments, Oaths and Property Declarations, and Keeping Minute Books, Regulation on the Authorization and Operations of Rating Agencies, Regulation on the Principles for Establishment and Operations of Asset Management Companies, Regulation on the Principles for Establishment and Operations of Financial Leasing, Factoring and Financing Companies.
• Banks will be entitled to submit their Stress Test Report and ICAAP Report for 31.12.2019 electronically, through their registered e-mail address.
• If new borrowers could not submit to banks the required documents prior to the bank extending the relevant loan (e.g. financial statements, corporate governance principles compliance report, analysis tables), the borrowers will be entitled to provide the outstanding documents within six months following the loan allocation date. Banks will keep records of the outstanding documents. Existing borrowers will be entitled to complete the outstanding information and documents by the end of 2020, requested by the relevant bank as per the second paragraph of Article 11/A of the Regulation.

Statement by the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services (31/03/2020)

• President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a decision about 6,219 additional appointments for 62 Public Institutions and Organizations.

Statement by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services (31/03/2020)

• In the scope of the Economic Stability Support Program, 1.000 TL will be paid to the households who benefit from social welfare (Elderly Pension, Disabled Pension, Relatives' Disability Salary, Silicosis Pension, Regular Cash Aid for Spouse Died Women, Regular Cash Aid for Needy Soldier Families, Soldier Child Aid, Conditional Education Aid, Conditional Health Aid, Multiple Birth Aid, Regular Cash Aid Program for Psychosocial) without need to make an application.
• Those whose last digit of the year of birth is 0 and 5 will get on April 1st and 6 on the 2nd of April and 7 on the 3rd of April and 8 on the 4th of April 4 and 9 on the 5th of April.

Ministry of Environment and Urbanization published comminuque about National Estate in the Official Gazatte (31.03.2020)

• Postponement of Rent Pay for unauthorised use of state-owned real property: Due payments for the unauthorized use of the Treasury's immovables, the investors and operators of the tourism facilities certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will be postponed for six months without make an application requirement for the admission fee to be collected between 01.04.2020 and 30.06.2020 and these receivables will be collected until the end of the postponed period without any raise or interest.
• Postponement of Usage Fee: Regardless of whether the right of the easement has been established or whether a permit has been granted or not, the rent, final permit, final allocation, easement, usage permits, utilization, additional utilization fees and revenue Ministry of Environment and Urbanization decided that the payment terms of the shares will be postponed for six months without make an application and that these receivables will be collected until the end of the postponed period without any increase or interest.from Investors and operators certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which have been allocated public land in order to build tourism facilities by the relevant Ministries.
• Although they have a right to benefit from the deferral of the usage fee, those who will make these payments between 1/4/2020 and 30/6/2020 due to their reasons cannot benefit from the deferral of the usage fee only for these costs.
• As a result of the examination made by the administration, it is understood that the investors and operators, who are understood to have the conditions for benefiting from the deferral of the usage fee, must be collected in the period between 01.04.2020 and 30.06.2020. Utilization fees and revenue shares; have been postponed for six months from the date of payment specified in the current contracts or related legislation under conditions of final allocation or final permit.