Turcas Petroleum has, for the second year in a row, been deemed worthy of an award in the “Boards Empowered by Women Awards”, organised for the second time under the aegis of Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum’s “Independent Women Directors Project”.

Turcas Petroleum, one of the leading companies in the energy sector with a history going back 83 years, alongside its successful performance in energy investments, is continuing to renew itself in the field of corporate governance. On its Board of Directors, which is composed of 7 people, 3 members are women (Banu Aksoy, Ayşe Botan Berker, Neslihan Tonbul), 2 of whom are Independent, meaning that, in 3 separate indices organised under the aegis of the Independent Women Directors Project, Turcas Petroleum is in the top 5 out of 422 public-access companies in Turkey. The company, which holds the 2nd Place in Turkey in the Empowered Women Index, 3rd in Turkey in the Gender Diversity Index, and 5th in Turkey in the Women Board Members Rating, has preserved its title as a company which has the most right to claim it has women on its board among public-access energy companies.

The 2nd Turkish Women Directors Conference, held at the Sabancı Center on Wednesday 19th November 2014, opened with a speech from the State Minister Responsible for the Economy and Deputy Prime Minister, Ali Babacan. In his speech, relayed by video, Babacan said, “Our development will not be possible without our women taking their rightful place in economic and social life,” and stressed that in order to continue with economic progress in the coming years Turkey had a need for more women in the labour force.

In the speech he gave, CEO Erdal Aksoy, who accepted the award for Turcas Petroleum, stated, “The women in the Turcas Family have a huge role in Turcas’ success today. I believe that the partnerships we have made with the world’s largest energy companies have been extremely effective in the underlying value we place on the female workers and administrators in the company. Despite the ratio of female administrators in Turkey still being low in relation to the world average, I have eternal thanks for our esteemed women Administrative Board members who have enabled us to win this award. With their creative synergy, we shall continue to take our company beyond even the targets we have set.”

The Independent Women Directors Project, which was initiated last year under the leadership of Sabancı University, is aimed at the empowerment of women’s positions in boards and by this make administrative boards work more effectively. Boards Empowered by Women Index is determined according to an evaluation based on the presence of women in boards, committee memberships, and the presence of female administrators among companies registered at the Istanbul Stock Exchange. As a result of a comprehensive evaluation carried out among 422 public-access companies trading at the Istanbul Stock Exchange in Turkey, this year Turcas Petroleum, Türk Tuborg, the Martı Hotel, and Bursa Steel were deemed worthy of awards.

Turcas Petroleum – Women Board Members

Banu Aksoy. After graduating from the Business Administration Faculty of Koç University, she studied Finance at the University of California at Berkeley in the USA. Since 2005, she has been a member of the Administrative Board of Turcas Petroleum and its subsidiaries, and since 2010 she has been a member of the Early Establishment of Risk and Corporate Governance Committees. From 1998-2000, she worked in the Eurasia Business Development Department of ConocoPhillips, and she is now a member of the Administrative Boards of Aksoy Holding Inc., its subsidiaries, such as Conrad Istanbul Hotel, and Shell Petroleum. As well as being a member of the Young Administrator and Businessmen’s Association (GYİAD), Board of Foreign Economic Affairs (DEİK), Petroleum Platform Association (PETFORM), the Petroleum Industry Association (PETDER), and Endeavor, she is married and is the mother of one child.

Dr Ayşe Botan Berker. After receiving an education in business administration at Middle East Technical University, she studied for her masters in Economics at the University of Delaware in the USA, and completed her doctorate in banking and finance at Marmara University. She began her career at the T. R. Central Bank and carried out duties in the Deputyship of the Director Responsible for Balance of Payments, the General Directorship for Foreign Relations, the Directorship of International Foundations, and in the London Legation. In 1999, she took on the role of Deputy Director General in the General Directorship of Foreign Relations. Between 1999 and 2012, she was the Director General in the Istanbul office of Fitch Ratings, and was one of the founding partners of Merit Risk Management and Consulting Services Inc.. She has been an Independent Member of the Administrative Board of Turcas Petroleum since April 2012, while at the same time carrying out her duties as a member of the Administrative Board of Rhea Enterprises and teaching lessons in finance at Bahçeşehir and Marmara Universities.

Neslihan Tonbul is a senior finance and marketing administrator with over 30 years of international management experience. She began her career on the staff of the Irving Trust Company (now called The Bank of New York Mellon) in 1983, specialising in credit marketing, risk management, and new business development. She was appointed a member of the Yaşar Holding Board in 2009, after which she also became a member of the Board at Prysmian Cable and worked as a consultant at the New Zealand Economic Development Agency. Tonbul, who gained her bachelor’s degree from the Economics and Political Science department of Rutgers University and her master’s in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tuft’s University, is also one of the founders of the Turkish-American Business Forum and a member of the International Consultation Board of the UK-based FSTC (Foundation for Science, Technology, and Civilisation). She has been an Independent Member of the Administrative Board of Turcas Petroleum since May 2013, and knows French and Azeri as well as English.

About Turcas Petroleum:

Turcas Petroleum (BIST:TRCAS), with a diverse portfolio and a history going back 83 years, is an investment holding which takes an interest primarily in energy companies. Shell, and its partner enterprise company in the field of petroleum and mineral oils, Shell & Turcas Petroleum, with its network of over 1,050 Shell-brand petroleum stations and sales revenue of 14 billion TL, is the 7thlargest company in Turkey, according to the Fortune 500 ranking. RWE & Turcas Southern Electricity Production Inc., its partner enterprise company with RWE, the German energy giant, brought into operation one of Turkey’s largest (775MW), most productive, and environmental natural-gas, combined-circuit electricity power stations in Denizli with an investment of 600 million Euros. Turcas BM Kuyucak Geothermal Electricity Production Inc., a partner enterprise company set up with BM Holding, is planning to move into the electricity production phase of its geothermal resource exploration project in Aydın at the start of 2015.