BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched a risk-sharing facility under Akbank’s Supply Chain Finance Program to support suppliers of Turkish retailer DeFacto Perakende Ticaret, the bank said, Trend reports.
The facility will provide 57 suppliers, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with timely access to discounted financing while encouraging environmental, social and governance (ESG) improvements in line with DeFacto’s sustainability strategy. The project will also benefit from EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) II funding to support baseline analyses, roadmap preparation, and ESG target-setting.
Greg Guyett, EBRD First Vice President, said the initiative strengthens the competitiveness of Turkish suppliers and enhances Türkiye’s role in global value chains. Akbank Executive VP Şebnem Muratoğlu noted that supply-chain finance helps optimise liquidity, maintain operations, and ensure continuity across value chains.
DeFacto CFO Hamdi Burgaçoğlu said the partnership “provides our suppliers with access to more affordable financing and supports them in advancing their environmental and social transformation efforts.”
Since 2009, the EBRD has invested over 23 billion euros in more than 500 projects in Türkiye, primarily in the private sector.