Sponsored briefing: Legal developments in the retail and e-commerce sector in Turkey

Sponsored briefing: Legal developments in the retail and e-commerce sector in Turkey

The organised retail sector is one of the largest sectors in Turkey with an annual business volume of $80bn, 100,000 stores and a capacity of direct employment of 1.5 million people. These are the sales and service areas visited by most of the Turkish population to meet their daily needs and demands.

Especially retail e-commerce, among the trade transactions made on the internet, has achieved a significant growth rate with the potential it has in the world and in our country. Removing time and place restrictions from shopping and providing momentum in transaction increases the attraction of the customers day by day. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Legal developments in the retail and e-commerce sector in Turkey”

Sponsored briefing: Q&A: Caner Durgut, Isıkal Law Office

Sponsored briefing: Q&A: Caner Durgut, Isıkal Law Office

Given Turkey’s recent economic problems including the currency crash and inflation together with continued problems created by the Covid-19 pandemic, how is this affecting your firm?

As is obvious, the world can be faced at any time with unexpected situations such as a pandemic, economic crisis, economic war, and even an actual war. The effects of those situations are worldwide since communications, trade, the economy itself, and every other thing today has become global. On the other hand, it is undeniable that we, as human beings, must move forward in order to save our world and in so doing save our own lives. This rightfully may be called our main purpose. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Q&A: Caner Durgut, Isıkal Law Office”

Sponsored briefing: Hot topics in Turkish renewable energy market

Sponsored briefing: Hot topics in Turkish renewable energy market

As of February 2022, Turkey’s renewable energy capacity is approximately 53,500 MW amounting to just over half of Turkey’s total installed capacity. This was largely thanks to YEKDEM, Turkey’s USD-based feed-in tariff. Depending on the renewable energy source, this mechanism provided guaranteed purchase prices between US$7.3 and US$13.3 per KWh for the first ten years of the operation period.

The USD-based YEKDEM was replaced by a TRY-based YEKDEM for the power plants commissioned after 30 June 2021. Although the TRY-based prices are escalated, this new YEKDEM has not provided a meaningful contribution to the installation of new renewable capacities. This is mainly due to the heavy devaluation of TRY, which triggers higher interest rates and equity contribution requirements. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Hot topics in Turkish renewable energy market”

Sponsored briefing: Recent developments on media and entertainment sector in Turkey

Sponsored briefing: Recent developments on media and entertainment sector in Turkey

As a consequence of the pandemic, the perspective on the media and entertainment sector and the way of consuming media content has changed as well as in all areas of life. Streaming platforms play a central role in the economy and its rapid development since the birth of the public commercial internet over 20 years ago has produced many societal benefits and new opportunities for free expression and innovation. Consumers are now turning to streaming platforms where they have many more options and can access them at an affordable price over the internet. From the consumers’ perspective, this has led them to over-the-top (OTT) media services and digital platforms offering on-demand streaming services. The OTT industry is actually in a period of maturation. We’re seeing a period in which the technology informing OTT trends is becoming more settled.

In particular, the demand for platforms offering on-demand streaming services has increased since more original content can be produced as a result of both the greater variety of productions and the fact that it provides a freer space in terms of time limit and content control. With the increasing demand for digital media, investments in this area and the number of digital media platforms have also increased. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Recent developments on media and entertainment sector in Turkey”

Sponsored briefing: Impact of ESG on M&As and financings and trends to watch

Sponsored briefing: Impact of ESG on M&As and financings and trends to watch

Economic decisions over the years have had major impacts on the scarce resources of the planet. Overconsumption and over-production brought the environment to a state of destruction and degradation. Consequently, all these alarming developments have led the academics, analysts, commentators, and scientists to work on the solutions to prevent a catastrophic future. As a result, sustainability has become one of the key considerations in decision-making processes.

Sustainability often consists of interdependencies that exist between environment, society, and economy. These three factors can be referred to as Triple Bottom Line and 3Ps as they may also be called as people, planet and profit. Under this Triple Bottom Line measuring system, unlike the traditional reporting framework, organisational performance is measured using environmental and social dimensions along with economic aspects. These are also important elements to measure the sustainability goals. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Impact of ESG on M&As and financings and trends to watch”

Sponsored briefing: Legal framework for Turkey’s transition to e-mobility has been introduced

Sponsored briefing: Legal framework for Turkey’s transition to e-mobility has been introduced

Based on the aim of compliance with the objectives of the European Green Deal, Turkey’s e-mobility sector has been experiencing a significant development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector and to accelerate the transition to a cleaner and more sustainable mobility. Therefore, Turkey has recently introduced new regulations and various incentive schemes relating to e-mobility.

In this context, an amendment of the Electricity Market Law Nr. 6446 entered into force on 21 December 2021 that regulates the procedures and principles on e-mobility activities as well as the rights and obligations of the market participants. Furthermore, new regulations on operation licences for electric vehicle charging stations and on installment of charging points in parking areas have been introduced. In addition, regulations that provide the legal framework for the e-scooter sector as a significant part of micro-mobility entered into force. The Turkish government has also adopted incentives for investments in electric vehicle charging stations. As a result of these regulations, it is expected that the number of electric vehicles and the electric vehicle charging stations will significantly increase in Turkey within the following years. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Legal framework for Turkey’s transition to e-mobility has been introduced”

Sponsored Q&A: Osman Ertürk ÖZEL, LL.M., managing partner, ÖZEL Attorney Consultancy

Sponsored Q&A: Osman Ertürk ÖZEL, LL.M., managing partner, ÖZEL Attorney Consultancy

Given Turkey’s recent economic problems including the currency crash and inflation together with continued problems created by the Covid-19 pandemic, how is this affecting your firm?

The economic recession in Turkey existed a year before the beginning of Covid. Covid has just made this situation obvious. Serious fluctuations in currency along with over 100% inflation rate have deepened the existing economic crisis. This has caused a disruption in all kinds of production in the markets. The fact that banks kept up the markets through loans has greatly disrupted the balance in the market. As a consequence, the case portfolio in our office has shifted to legal procedures such as breach of contract, mediation, litigation and internal arbitration. Continue reading “Sponsored Q&A: Osman Ertürk ÖZEL, LL.M., managing partner, ÖZEL Attorney Consultancy”

Sponsored briefing: The Invasion of Ukraine is Catastrophic for the Russian Economy. Now What?

Sponsored briefing: The Invasion of Ukraine is Catastrophic for the Russian Economy. Now What?

Has Russia violated its promises to Turkish Investors under the Turkey-Russia Bilateral Investment Treaty?

When the Russian Federation unleashed its deadly invasion of Ukraine, it was fully aware unprecedentedly severe sanctions would be imposed. As a direct result of these completely foreseeable sanctions, and other knock-on effects of the invasion, Turkish and other foreign investors in Russia will have seen the value of their investments take a serious hit, with further hits certain to come1. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: The Invasion of Ukraine is Catastrophic for the Russian Economy. Now What?”

Sponsored survey: Maximising compliance and minimising risk: corporate investigations in the DACH region

Sponsored survey: Maximising compliance and minimising risk: corporate investigations in the DACH region

Renewed commitment among US agencies to punishing corporate wrongdoing has pushed investigations to the top of the risk register. We partnered with OpenText to find out how this is impacting GCs in the DACH region

In September 2021 the video games industry suddenly found itself in the spotlight after allegations of sexual misconduct and discrimination at Activision Blizzard – one of the biggest publishers in the world and the target of Microsoft’s largest-ever acquisition – sparked investigation by US regulators. Coming just months after a new Biden administration had pledged to crack down on the full spectrum of corporate wrongdoing, it was a timely reminder of the many and varied investigations risks now faced by global business. Continue reading “Sponsored survey: Maximising compliance and minimising risk: corporate investigations in the DACH region”