Turkey's most indebted AKP-run municipality spends millions on an elevator

The Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, which holds the title of Turkey's most indebted municipality, is on the agenda due to a cost increase in the elevator project planned for the İzmit Train Station. The municipality has a total Treasury debt of 1.8 billion TL.

According to a report by Birgün, the first tender was opened on April 16, 2024, and a contract worth 3 million 737 thousand TL was signed with an individual named Ercan Yıldırım on May 21, 2024. The project was scheduled to be completed on October 1, 2024, but the elevator could not be finished by this date, and the aluminum profiles used at the site remained idle for a long time.

In April 2025, a second tender was held for the unfinished project. Only a company named Öz Asansör İnşaat submitted a bid for this tender, which took place on April 14, and their bid of 5 million 330 thousand TL was accepted. The municipality signed a new contract with this company on April 25, 2025, and the elevator is now planned to be completed by July 7, 2025.

The total cost of the elevator project, which was initially estimated at 3.7 million TL, reached 9 million 67 thousand TL after the second tender. Thus, the project cost rose 142 percent above the initial estimate.