The build-operate-wreck the budget model: 230.2 billion TL to contractors
Following the Ministry of Transport, the amount transferred to contractors from the budget of the General Directorate of Highways (KGM) has also been calculated. Due to unmet vehicle passage guarantees, the 42.7 billion TL paid in the first half of 2025 brought the total amount paid to contractors between 2017 and 2025 to 230.2 billion TL.
The use of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model in major public projects such as airports, hospitals and bridges became routine during the AKP governments.
Many large-scale public projects were handed over to the private sector via the BOT model instead of being funded by public resources. BOT projects were widely criticised for becoming a tool to funnel profit to contractors close to the government.
Unplanned passenger, toll and patient guarantees provided for airports, hospitals, roads and bridges created a massive hole in the public budget. The biggest controversy over guarantee payments emerged during the 2019 budget debates.
When asked by the opposition, “Why are guarantee payments being hidden in the budget?”, then Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Cahit Turhan responded, “They are not hidden. Guarantee payments are made under the ‘Transfers to Households’ item in the General Directorate of Highways’ accounts.”
A MASSIVE BLACK HOLE
Following Turhan’s reply, attention turned to KGM’s financial reports. It was revealed that the total spending from the “Transfers to Households” item between 2017 and 2025 reached nearly 250 billion TL. The reports confirmed criticisms that BOT project guarantees have created a budgetary black hole.
BILLIONS EVERY YEAR
According to KGM data, transfers to households from the budget which amounted to 1.127 billion TL in 2017 skyrocketed to 60.294 billion TL in 2024. Financial data published by the directorate on 31 July for the first half of 2025 further exposed the burden of BOT projects on public finances. According to the report, 42.732 billion TL was paid to contractors between January and June 2025 due to unmet traffic guarantees.
The payments made under this guarantee item between 2017 and 2025 are as follows:
2017: 1.127 billion TL
2018: 3.403 billion TL
2019: 5.109 billion TL
2020: 10.122 billion TL
2021: 14.255 billion TL
2022: 36.359 billion TL
2023: 56.824 billion TL
2024: 60.294 billion TL
2025 (Jan–June): 42.732 billion TL
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Yap-işlet-bütçeyi tarumar et: Müteahhitlere 230,2 milyar TL, published in BirGün newspaper on August 1, 2025.
