Ahmet Çalık

Not to be confused with Ahmet Yılmaz Çalık.

Ahmet Çalık
Born	1958 Malatya, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Occupation	Founder, owner and chairman, Çalık Holding
Net worth	$1.28 billion (December 2015)
Spouse(s)	married
Children	4

Ahmet Çalık (born 1958) is a Turkish businessman, the founder, owner and chairman of Çalık Holding.

Career

As a member of a family involved in the field of textile since the 1930s, Ahmet Çalık initiated his personal investments in the same sector in 1981. In the following years with the investments in construction, energy, finance, telecom, and mining sectors, he laid foundations of Çalık Holding, one of the important players of Turkey and the nearby geographic area.

Çalık realized the first large-scale private sector investment in Eastern Anatolia by establishing Gap Güneydoğu Tekstil in Malatya in mid-1980s. Today the Company is among the 10 largest premium denim manufacturers of the world. Following the independence of Turkic republics in 1990s, Çalık commenced establishing business operations, namely textile factories, in Turkmenistan and is recognized as one of the pioneer investors in Central Asia.

Çalık restructured Gap İnşaat in mid-1990s and increased the project development operations, focusing on the projects that create added value for the community. Gap İnşaat specialized in infrastructure-superstructure, industrial and energy facilities, health complexes, luxury residence constructions particularly in difficult-to-work-in geographies, has launched over 100 significant projects. The Company also undertook the project of “Turkmenbashi International Sea Port”, a project expected to elevate the position of Turkmenistan as a logistics hub between Asia and Europe. Meanwhile, Çalık Gayrimenkul, the affiliate of Gap İnşaat in the real estate sector was awarded first place in the category of urban renewal with its “Tarlabaşı 360” project by one of the most prestigious awards ceremony of Europe, European Property Awards in 2013.

Recognizing the rising trend of the energy sector early on, Çalık has established Çalık Enerji and commenced operations in 1990s. The Company continues its business activities separated in two main fields, “Power systems” and Petroleum-Gas”. Çalık Enerji has signed onto 7 power plants at approximately 1,500 MW in total in Central Asia. Named the largest EPC contractor in Georgia with its Gardabani Project, Çalık Enerji has delivered two power plants at 2000 MW in Iraq. The Company holds a business portfolio, covering wind, thermal, solar, natural gas, hydro power plants with a total capacity of 2000 MW in Turkey. Çalık Enerji along with Gap İnşaat was ranked in the “The Top 250 Global Contractors” list, announced every year by ENR (Engineering News Record) magazine.

Çalık Holding marked a strong entry into energy distribution sector, following the acquisition of YEDAŞ in 2010, Kosovo Electricity Distribution and Supply (KEDS) in 2012, and ARAS EDAŞ in 2013.

Upon the growth in the business volume, Çalık stepped into the finance sector and established Aktif Bank in Turkey and acquired BKT, which under the Çalık Group management became one of the two largest banks in Albania. Aktif Bank has been awarded with 73 awards and ranked first in the "Physical Distribution" category of EFMA (European Financial Management & Marketing Association) awards with its Aktif Nokta Project, while BKT was named “The Best Bank” for the third time in the last four years by “The Banker”, one of the most respectable international finance magazines. The operations of Aktif Bank mainly focus on Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Investment Banking and City Banking, with the bank offering services to its customers on a wide spectrum from money transfers to insurance, from card products to comprehensive kiosk solutions.

Çalık, one of the biggest Turkish investors in the Balkans, entered into telecom sector by acquiring ALBtelecom, Albania’s largest landline telephone operator and internet provider, in 2007. The Company initiated its GSM operator Eagle Mobile in 2008.

Believing that Turkey’s natural resources should be incorporated into economy, Çalık established Lidya Madencilik in 2010. The company is one of the leading mining companies in Turkey with its land portfolio. Anagold, a JV company of Lidya Madencilik and Alacer Gold, is the first major international partnership in the Turkish mining industry.

With the purpose of generating added value and enriching the geographies in which the Group operates, Çalık founded Çalık Holding in 1997 and united all Group companies under a single roof. Today, Holding is involved in textile, energy, construction, finance, telecom, and mining sectors and operates in 17 countries with around 27,000 employees. According to the 2010 report of “Emerging Markets Global Player” Holding is one of the five largest Turkish Groups that leads active investment projects in international markets.

Çalık Holding adopts a business model focused on the geography which holds the 60 percent of the world’s hydrocarbon (petroleum and gas) resources and spans over the financially wealthy countries including Turkey. As of the year 2014, Holding’s consolidated active size stands at 7.5 billion USD.

Other duties

• 1997-2004-: Turkmenistan Textile Industry Ministry Assistantship
• 2012-: Kazakhstan Republic Bursa Honorary Consulate

Personal life

Married with four children.