Speaking to the press regarding his new role as president of the organization yesterday, Gül noted that the fund is currently working towards becoming more effective at collecting debts owed to the TMSF in relation to confiscated assets and banks.
“We have two goals when doing this: maximizing the amount we can get and helping the debtor pay their debts without putting them in an overly difficult situation,” said Gül, highlighting that the TMSF preferred to collect debts in the most painless way possible without the debts falling into default. He did, however, show a glimpse of his uncompromising nature when he stated that some debtors have exploited the TMSF’s stance and will therefore be faced with “closed doors” when it comes to collecting debts the “easy way.” He added that the TMSF would show debtors an “open door” if they willingly came to the TMSF looking to pay off their debts.
Regarding the amount of debt collected thus far, Gül stated that the fund had collected $14 billion in debts since 2004, far above expectations. He added that approximately $5 billion was paid to the Treasury as the TMSF is also in debt to the Treasury due to banks rescued during the 2001 crisis. He added that their performance in collecting debt even surprised and impressed the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose representatives were amazed that the TMSF had been able to collect so much money. “We didn’t think we would collect this much, but economic stability, our strong structure and the increasing value of assets helped us achieve this.”
