HISTORY

1957

ENKA was founded in 1957 as a partnership between the late Şarık Tara and his brother-in-law, the late Sadi Gülçelik, both civil engineering graduates from İstanbul Technical University.

During its first few years of operation, ENKA gradually became stronger thanks to the hard work and dedication of its founders. The small new firm had taken an active part in various large construction projects in İstanbul, such as the İstinye Highway Bridge and Quaywall, and the Babaeski-Kuleli Road, and began to attract the attention of high-level officials, winning their admiration and encouragement with its founding philosophy of concentrating on projects requiring special techniques or involving a relatively high degree of difficulty, as well as complex design and engineering tasks and risks, rather than on conventional building projects in which most other firms were engaged.

Right from the start, management and staff, engineers and workers stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a collaborative effort, which formed the basis of ENKA’s particularly friendly and cooperative management style. The most significant projects in the early years were the construction of the Unkapanı Flyover, the General Electric Motors Factory and the Haydarpaşa Grain Silos in İstanbul, the Siemens Cable Plant in Mudanya, the Goodyear Rubber Tire Plant in İzmit, the Chrysler Truck Assembly Plant in Gebze and the Aksu Paper Mill in Giresun.

1970-1980

At the beginning of 1970, ENKA was involved in 35 construction projects, all running concurrently, ten of which were overseas. Contracts with foreign companies began to develop into joint ventures, first in Türkiye, and then internationally.

As a result of these strategic, cooperative business ventures with foreign firms, ENKA, together with a German partner, was awarded an international tender for the first time in 1970, to construct the Ortaköy Viaducts and approach roads to the Bosphorus Bridge.

During the same year, ENKA commenced the construction of a cement plant at Benghazi in Libya. The construction of various motorway tunnels on the Anatolian Highway, such as the 660 m İzmit Open Tunnel, the 580 m Dilderesi and the 440 m Hereke Twin Tube Tunnels soon followed. It was also during the 1970s that ENKA broke ground with its first power plant projects, the Tunçbilek and Yatağan Thermal Power Plants.

Other major projects in Türkiye included specialized construction, such as the İskenderun Iron and Steel Works, Türkiye’s largest industrial plant at that time. In the ensuing years, various other construction projects were undertaken in cooperation with major German, Polish, Austrian, British, French, Jordanian and Japanese firms in Türkiye, as well as abroad in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Jordan and Iraq.

In the meantime, the ENKA Group decided to concentrate its operations in three principal fields; construction, fabrication and trade. The ENKA Export-Import Company was founded in 1972. In response to the rapid expansion of its business volume, ENKA transformed its specialized departments into individual, free-standing companies with substantial investments into their fields of expertise.

Çimtaş was founded to continue the fabrication and erection of steel structures/elements, Titaş for earthworks and soil engineering and Kasktaş for piling.

1981-1990

In the early 1980s, ENKA expanded its activities in Iraq with the construction of the Tasluja and Kerbela Cement Plants, and in Saudi Arabia with the Riyadh Water Transmission System, the Al Khafji Desalination Plant and the Medinah Housing Project.

The Gerede to Ankara and the Ankara peripheral highways in Türkiye, the Bekhme Dam in Iraq, and the Ras Lanuf and Brega New Towns in Libya were ENKA’s first mega-scale projects. Another major projects during this period were the Hamitabat 1,200 MW Natural Gas-fired Combined Cycle Power Plant, Yeniköy 420 MW and Kemerköy 630 MW Thermal Power Plants in Türkiye. By the end of 1980, ENKA İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş. was the 64th largest international contractor in the world, while ENKA’s Export- Import Company became the largest export trading company in Türkiye.

Meanwhile, the ENKA Sports Education and Culture Foundation was established, and the Sadi Gülçelik Sports Center was inaugurated, in 1983.

In the mid-1980s, the company also began to venture into refinery, petrochemical and pipeline projects. ENKA, in collaboration with a Japanese partner, completed the Iraq-Türkiye crude oil pipeline expansion project in 1984. In 1986, ENKA partnered with Ankara – Gerede Motorway – Türkiye 1,000 Bed Hospital for the 2nd World War Veterans – Russian Federation a French company for the construction of the 842 km natural gas pipeline from the Bulgarian border of Türkiye to Ankara, including the 118 km offshore pipeline in the Marmara Sea.

Following the foundation of the İstanbul Stock Exchange in 1986, a part of ENKA’s shares was traded under the name of ENKA Holding Yatırım A.Ş. which, after the merger in 2002, became ENKA İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş.

In 1988, ENKA undertook its first construction projects in the Russian Federation within the framework of the Turkish-USSR Natural Gas Agreement. These projects included the restoration and renovation of the Petrovsky Shopping Arcade, a historic architectural landmark built in 1903 by the famous Russian architect Kalugin, and the turnkey construction project of a 1,000-bed hospital for World War II veterans, both are located in Moscow.

1989 was the year the Sirte Bay Hotel and Conference Center was constructed in Libya. The project, which was completed in an incredible 180-day construction period, set a record in high quality and timely delivery. By 1990, ENKA ranked among the top general contracting companies in the world.

1991-2000

During the 1990s, ENKA continued to offer and expand its comprehensive range of services, from design and procurement to construction, fabrication, erection, operation, maintenance and management.

In 1991, ENKA took part in the “Housing Construction Program” in the Russian Federation and Belarus. The program aimed to provide housing for members of the former Soviet Army returning to their home countries from former East Germany, following German reunification.

Between 1991 and 1995, ENKA successfully completed seven projects within an internationally tendered program financed by the German Government. A key project was the Borisow Military Housing Project in Belarus, the pioneering settlement of the military housing program. A key requisite of this tender was the short time frame required for completion and accordingly, turnkey construction was accomplished within a mere 173 days. In total 5,970 apartment units together with the required technical and social infrastructure were built by ENKA for the military housing program.

Starting from 1993, ENKA, together with its joint venture partner, Bechtel, signed a series of contracts for several projects to develop the Tengiz Oil Field in western Kazakhstan. ENKA and Bechtel’s first contracts were awarded by Tengizchevroil for projects relating to the improvement of the Tengiz Oil Field infrastructure.

These projects paved the way for major contracts to expand, upgrade and develop the Tengiz and the Korolev Oil Fields on the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea. ENKA and its joint venture partner provided integrated engineering, construction, project management and procurement expertise for Tengizchevroil. During the execution of these enormous projects, more than 20 million person-hours were spent under live plant conditions, without any lost time incidents.

In the 1990s, various engineering and construction contracts were completed in the Russian Federation, including the building of hospitals, housing complexes, shopping malls, office buildings and industrial plants. Between 1993 and 1994, ENKA was awarded a contract for an eminent reconstruction and renovation project of the former Russian Parliament building – the White House. The building was reconstructed and renovated within three months, as it was to become the new Government House. The State Duma Building, one of Moscow’s oldest landmarks, previously the Gosplan Headquarters, was also reconstructed and restored within three months.

It was also during the 1990s that ENKA affirmed its willingness to make long-term investments in the Russian Federation. Two joint stock companies – MosENKA and Moskva Krasnye Holmy were established in partnership with local entities to develop and operate office buildings in Moscow. MosENKA was founded in 1991 with a mission to renovate historical buildings that contributed to the splendor of Moscow and meet the growing demand for office space. Later Moskva Krasnye Holmy was established in 1995 for the implementation of the Russian Cultural Center, a unique blend of business and cultural spaces.

Following the completion of these buildings, the development of a more extensive project, the Paveletskaya Plaza Business Center, consisting of three premium class office buildings, with a total rentable floorspace of 66,000 m² was undertaken. Paveletskaya Plaza with its remarkable architecture is widely regarded as a landmark of the Russian capital.

From late 1994 onwards, ENKA began to extend its real estate portfolio in Moscow.

The office buildings on Sretenka Avenue, the Tsvetnoy Palazzo, the Chapligina House, Riverside Towers and the Naberezhnaya Tower were all entirely developed by ENKA.

 ENKA further extended its business lines in the Russian Federation with the foundation of RamENKA in 1997, to build and operate shopping centers and supermarket chains. In November of the same year, it launched its first Ramstore hypermarket and shopping center in the Kuntsevo district of Moscow. The company continued its growth and opened its second hypermarket and shopping center Maryina Roshcha in 1998, despite the ongoing economic crisis in the Russian Federation.

ENKA has continued its investments in the Russian Federation and today owns 11 shopping malls. The total gross area of shopping malls owned and operated by ENKA is 863,000 m².

Today, ENKA is both the developer and the owner of many prestigious projects in Moscow that feature Intelligent Building technologies with efficient layouts and interior premises, fitted out in accordance with international standards and automated engineering and safety control systems. ENKA’s real estate investment projects have become the overriding choice for a large number of leading international and Russian companies.

2001-2010

Following a significant step taken by ENKA in 1997 towards becoming an independent power producer in Türkiye and a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) tender, ENKA was awarded the right to build, own and operate the Gebze Power Plant with a capacity of 1,540 MW, the Adapazarı Power Plant with a capacity of 770 MW and the İzmir Power Plant with a capacity of 1,520 MW. An ENKA-Bechtel joint venture was the turnkey EPC contractor for all three projects. The Gebze and Adapazarı Plants were commissioned in 2002 and the İzmir Plant in 2003. Since the plants began operating, ENKA has become the largest electricity producer in the Turkish private sector and the sole owner of the electricity generation companies. ENKA is capable of generating 32,000 GWh of electricity per year, accounting for approximately 10% of Türkiye’s annual production.

Some of the key projects undertaken by ENKA in the early 2000s were the Afşin Elbistan-B Thermal Power Plant, the U.S. Consulate Building in İstanbul, the Bregana-Zagreb-Dubrovnik Motorway in Croatia, the Transylvanian Motorway in Romania, the Caspian Sea Offshore Construction Works, the Rijnmond Energy Center in the Netherlands, dam construction in Algeria, the Swissôtel Krasnye Holmy in Moscow, and various special building projectss.

Other significant contracts ENKA worked on in the early 2000s included the Philip Morris Cigarette Factory in St. Petersburg, the Sakhalin I and II oil and natural gas processing plants, the Sheremetyevo Airport Terminal 3 Project in Moscow, in the Russian Federation, and the water treatment plant in Algeria.

From 2006 onwards, major engineering and construction contracts awarded to ENKA were the fivestar Hyatt Regency Hotel and the Business Center in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the Shakhtar Donetsk Football Stadium project with 52,667 spectator capacity in Ukraine, the Rreshen-Kalimash Motorway in Albania, the Metropolis Business Center, Moscow City Imperia Tower and Eurasia Tower Buildings in Moscow, the special building projects in Sarajevo, Djibouti and Burundi, the 411 MW Single Shaft Combined Cycle Power Plant in Yajva, the Russian Federation, the Morine-Merdare Motorway in Kosovo and the Lapino Perinatal Hospital in Moscow.

2011-2015

In 2011, ENKA won the EPC contract for the construction of the West Qurna-2 Electrical Power Generation Plant for LUKOIL. It was the first Gas-fired Thermal Power Plant (GTPP) project in which ENKA acted as the sole EPC Contractor in oil, gas and petrochemicals. ENKA was also awarded the contracts for the U.S. embassy buildings in Equatorial Guinea, the Dominican Republic and Afghanistan.

During 2012-2013, ENKA won contracts for the execution of mechanical and electrical installation works of the Khabarovsk Refinery in the Russian Federation; the MEI Early Production Facility in Majnoon Oil Field and the conversion of three existing simple cycle power plants into combined cycle in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhouk in Iraq; and the mechanical erection works for the construction of the Berezovskaya Coal Fired Power Plant in the Russian Federation.

Building works contracts for the construction of the Ufa Perinatal Medical Center, the Sergiev Posad Multifunctional Shopping Center and the US Embassy Moscow Annex Office Building in the Russian Federation, and the Mausoleum, Mosque, Library and Museum in Gabon were also awarded to ENKA.

At the beginning of 2014, ENKA started the construction of two Compressor Stations and a Pressure Reduction and Metering Station for the expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCPX), a part of the Shah Deniz Full Field Development Project.

During the same year, ENKA was awarded the contracts of the Bazyan Simple Cycle Power Plant, the Prishtine–Hani i Elezit (Route No:6) Motorway in Kosovo, Besmaya Combined Cycle Power Plant with a 1,500 MW capacity to provide electricity and to ensure security of the power supply in Baghdad in Iraq; construction and consultancy services for the special building projects in the Netherlands, Mauritania, Turkmenistan, together with the Headquarters Building and CJTF Join Operations Center in Djibouti.

The construction of the Kuntsevo Multifunctional Trade & Business Center in the Russian Federation was completed in 2015. Within the scope of this project, the existing building covering 19,400 m², which had been opened in 1997, was demolished and a new 245,000 m² modern complex was constructed.

In 2015, ENKA completed its works on the Erbil Combined Cycle Power Plant Project, which became the first synchronized combined cycle power plant in Iraq.

Following its successful project execution in Iraq, in July 2015 ENKA won the EPCC contract for a processing facility, Initial Oil Train, in the West Qurna 1 Oilfield with a 100,000-barrels a day capacity.

Also, by the end of the year 2015 ENKA was awarded the turnkey contract for the Kashirskaya Plaza Multifunctional Trade Center in Moscow, the Russian Federation.

Last but not least, ENKA’s fully-owned subsidiary Çimtaş completed the fabrication and ground assembly works for the Osmangazi Suspension Bridge Project in the Gulf of İzmit fully and on time in 2016.

Furthermore, Cimtas Pipe, one of ENKA’s rapidly expanding group companies, carried out fully integrated, high-quality piping fabrication in record-breaking tight deadlines for large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) and refinery projects in the US and Australia. All these fabrication works were carried out in the piping factory of Cimtas Pipe, which has the highest capacity in the world among plants of its type, and in the fitting and pipe manufacturing facilities.

2016-2020

In early 2016, ENKA signed contracts to undertake projects such as the Kashagan Oil Field Development Offshore Construction Works in Kazakhstan and two more special office projects in Asia.

In 2016, ENKA set up the first research and development center in the Turkish construction sector to make greater use of its in-house engineering capabilities and add to its expertise in the area of power plant design, covering the civil/structural, mechanical, process, piping, control/instrumentation and electrical engineering domains.

The following year, the company established a new subsidiary, ENKA Systems, to meet the software needs of companies engaged in very large and/or global scale operations.

In 2017, ENKA’s international construction projects continued to be its engine of growth. ENKA was awarded contracts for the Gelendzhik Multifunctional Medical Center, TAIF Business Center and Nizhnekamsk 495 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant in the Russian Federation, projects related to the Tengiz Oil Field Development in Kazakhstan and for special office projects; one in South America and one in Asia.

In the early 2017, ENKA entered into a consortium agreement with General Electric to implement the 750 MW Samawa and Dhi Qar Combined Cycle Power Plant projects in Iraq.

ENKA set out on its sustainability journey in 2017 as a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact for a Sustainable Future. By launching its Sustainability Department in 2018, ENKA transformed its institutional structure and management system to incorporate sustainability.

New projects undertaken by ENKA in 2018 included Tengiz Oil Field Development under different contracts in Kazakhstan, quay wall and marine works at Umm Qasr Port in Iraq and special building projects; one in North America and one in Africa. Among the projects undertaken by the Group companies, one that especially stands out is the contract received by Çimtaş for the fabrication of all permanent steel components of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, with a total weight of over 105,000 tons.

Among the large-scale investments in the real estate sector is the reconstruction of the Kashirskaya Plaza the Multifunctional Trade Center in Moscow was completed and started operations in the first half of 2018. In this segment, ENKA owns approximately 388,000 m² of net rentable Class A office space and 365,000 m² of net rentable space in shopping malls and a hotel which are all, except for one shopping mall, located in Moscow. In all the office buildings it manages, ENKA hosts some of the world’s leading international companies.

In 2019, ENKA was awarded the contracts for the 112 km Morava Corridor Motorway project which stretches from Pojate to Preljina in Serbia; the 250 MW Natural gas Combined Cycle Power Plant for the TAIF Group company Kazanorgsintez in Kazan, Tatarstan, the first phase of a High Technological Multifunctional Medical Complex in St. Petersburg, the Russian Federation; special building projects; one in North America and one in Europe and West Qurna 1 Produced Water 2 Facility in Basra, Iraq.

Among the contracts ENKA signed in 2020 were the 850 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant project in Zainsk, Tatarstan; the second phase works of a High Technological Multifunctional Medical Complex in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation; the Nassau Cruise Port Project in the Bahamas; the Improvement of Flexibility, Operability and Profitability (IFOP) project at the İzmir STAR Refinery of SOCAR and call of contract with Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company (BTC) for Provision of Fabrication and Construction Services   in Türkiye.

2021-Today

During 2021-2023, ENKA was awarded contracts for the Dradenau Combined Heat & Power Plant and Stade LNG Regasification Terminal in Germany; the prefabrication, installation & erection of piping systems for the power island of Hinkley Point C (HPC) Nuclear Power Plant Turbine Island – Piping Prefabrication & Erection Works and Insulation & Painting Works and Shotton Paper Mill in the UK; the Nassau Cruise Port Upland Works in the Bahamas; Yandex Headquarters in Russia; Corridor 8 & Corridor 10d Motorway in North Macedonia; Oyu Tolgoi Underground Project – Concentrator Conversion construction SMPE&I works in Mongolia. In 2022, ENKA Kırklareli Elektrik Üretim A.Ş., a wholly owned subsidiary of ENKA, has undertaken the construction of the 850 MW Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant project in Kırklareli, Türkiye and another subsidiary of ENKA, Town Up 8 LTD, has undertaken a Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant in Burgas, Bulgaria with a capacity of 45 MWp in 2023.

During 2023-2024, ENKA signed the contracts for the Multifunctional Public and Residential Complex in Russia, San Juan Cruise Port Development Project in Puerto Rico, and the Pool at West Marina and Superyacht Marina Nassau in the Bahamas.

Additionally, ENKA signed contracts for the Propylene Splitter Unit Project for İzmit Refinery and İzmir Refinery in Türkiye, and North Benghazi 1,320 MW Simple Cycle Power Plant in Libya.

Records show that, thus far, ENKA has been awarded over 590 projects with a total contract value of USD 66 billion in 59 countries. Delivering such large-scale projects on time, while achieving the highest standards in terms of ethics, quality, safety and sustainability has always been crucial to ENKA’s success.

ENKA is a company made up of people from all over the world and with its diverse, talented and experienced human resource of over 20,000 engineering and construction personnel, and construction equipment and a machinery park consisting of over 4,000 items, ENKA is able to rapidly mobilize anywhere in the world, in order to immediately provide high quality and safe construction services.

ENKA, in line with its company motto of “Engineering for a Better Future”, maintains a corporate culture of protecting its employees and contributing to their professional development, of working towards the welfare of society, of respecting the environment and people alike and preventing them from coming to harm – and achieve all this through an innovative outlook and without the slightest deviation from its business ethics.

In 2017, ENKA became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and developed its strategy, aligned with Sustainable Development Goals, based on four main pillars, namely; Doing Good Business, Developing Communities, Caring for Employees and Reducing Environmental Impact. ENKA believes creating a positive impact and leaving a positive legacy in the communities where it operates is essential. Since its foundation, ENKA has adopted investment in communities, social responsibility projects, local contributions through local employment and procurement practices as an irrevocable part of business integrity. ENKA has been taking steps to reduce the environmental impacts of its operations while collaborating with its customers for the sustainable development of communities and combating climate change, and encouraging and inspiring its subcontractors and suppliers to join ENKA in these efforts.

With this know-how, ENKA today continues to create a lasting positive legacy for communities and the environment. ENKA’s commitment has been recognized by and listed in the most prestigious sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, FTSE4GOOD Index.