How is the Turkish company Dalgakiran, which is winning tenders in Ukraine, connected to Russia?

The Turkish company Dalgakıran Kompresör is one of the largest manufacturers of compressors, generators, cooling systems, and other industrial systems and ranks among the top 500 exporters of goods from Turkey. Although the company supplies its products to the markets of Europe and the USA and receives government contracts from Ukraine, it still conducts trade in Russia. For more details – see the article.

Success in Russia

Dalgakıran entered the Russian market back in 2002, immediately establishing representations in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Samara, and Yekaterinburg. The company has been doing well, as evidenced by the invitation extended to Nikolai Dunaev, the General Director of JSC "Dalgakıran-M," to a meeting with Putin held during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in 2015.

In 2022, the company received a declaration from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) confirming that its products meet the safety and quality requirements of the Customs Union and the EAEU, including its Smartoil brand oils in April, shortly after the onset of military actions by Russia.

EAEU Declaration for Dalgakiran

Since 2023, the company has transferred ownership from the Turkish Dalgakıran to its managers, registering new legal entities. However, in July 2024, the company registered the Dalgakiran trademark in the customs registry of intellectual property in the Russian Federation.

Currently, all Dalgakiran assets in Russia are legally concentrated under the management of Nuri Kara, who serves as the General Director and owner of JSC "Dalgakıran - M" and LLC "Energoservice", and he is also the General Director of LLC "GIS", while the owner is Sali̇h Çeli̇k. All three companies were owned by the legal entities of Dalgakıran until the end of 2023.

Connections of Russian legal entities

The company registered the Dalgakiran trademark in the customs registry of intellectual property in the Russian Federation

It is important to note that from February 2022 to January 2024, the legal entity Dalgakiran Kompresor San Tic Ltd.Sti. conducted 5,175 shipments to Russia, and the subsidiary JSC "Dalgakıran - M" appears in the supplier lists of enterprises operating in the defense industry, such as JSC "Kaluga Electromechanical Plant" (which produces control systems for "Iskander-M" and "Topol-M" missiles), FGUP "VNIIOFI" (which manufactures electronics for the Russian defense industry), JSC "MMZ "Avangard" (which produces missiles for the S-300 and S-400 systems), and JSC "OKB named after A.S. Yakovlev" (which manufactures a wide range of aircraft and systems for the Russian army).

Deliveries of Dalgakiran to Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion.

The geography of deliveries by the Dalgakiran legal entity over time

Deliveries by the Dalgakiran legal entity to Ukraine and Russia in January 2024. Data: https://en.52wmb.com/supplier/7198655?type=1

Iranian Connection

According to information from the website trademo.com, which tracks supply chains, there are two interesting importers registered in Iran: Dalgakiran Kompresor San Ve Tic Ltd and Dalgakiran Kompresor San Ve Tic Ltd Sti, with the registration address of the latter listed as Turkey, Istanbul (Eyup Sultan Mahallesi Muminler Cad. No:70 Istanbul).

Registered importers in Iran (trademo.com)

Deliveries of Dalgakiran equipment to Iran are confirmed by the presence of Dalgakiran products on many industrial equipment sales websites: iranindustryexpo.com, famcocorp.com, imenair.com. The company "Atlas Compressor Kara Industrial Group" states on its website that it is the official supplier of Dalgakiran equipment in Iran.

Dalgakiran products on an Iranian industrial equipment sales website (iranindustryexpo.com)

Even Adnan Dalgakıran himself mentioned in an interview with Voice of America about the reduction of product shipments to Iran, but not their complete cessation: "Due to Iran being 'under observation,' we can export much less of our potential in the engineering sector. Many products could not be sold due to sanctions related to the nuclear program against Iran."

Millions in Ukrainian Tenders

According to information from Prozorro, the Ukrainian legal entity LLC "Dalgakıran Compressor Ukraine" won 97 tenders totaling 578.9 million hryvnias, with the company being the sole participant in 47 of those tenders.

Additionally, Dalgakıran signed contracts worth another 158.1 million hryvnias for purchases without using the electronic system. These are contracts that do not require a tender and are limited to a maximum amount of 100,000 hryvnias for goods or services, 200,000 for repairs, and up to 1.5 million hryvnias for works.

Tenders won by Dalgakiran on Prozorro

Certain tenders won by Dalgakiran attract attention because the company's offer was the most expensive for the customer, but competitors were either disqualified or conditions were created specifically for this company to win.

For instance, during a tender for GP "Chuguev Aviation Repair Plant," Dalgakiran's proposed price was higher than that of competitor LLC "Prymkholod," 16.7 million hryvnias compared to 16.6 million. However, "Prymkholod" was disqualified, and their complaint was rejected.

In a tender from the Emergency Rescue Team of the State Emergency Service for 25 million hryvnias, Dalgakiran won solely because the competitors submitted their documents late. Additionally, in a tender from JSC "Gnivansky Special Reinforced Concrete Plant," one of the technical requirements explicitly listed a component that is a product of Dalgakiran – the DK series dryer.

Rejection of LLC "Prymkholod"'s appeal against the tender results (https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2024-10-21-013369-a)

The main clients of LLC "Dalgakıran Compressor Ukraine" have become:

• JSC "Ukrgazdobycha" - totaling 164,279,381 hryvnias.

• GP "Chuguev Aviation Repair Plant" - totaling 26,643,117 hryvnias.

• JSC "Zaporizhzhia Electric Locomotive Repair Plant" - totaling 4,872,405 hryvnias.

• "Poltavagasdobycha" (a branch of "Ukrgazdobycha") - totaling 14,647,145 hryvnias.

• Military Unit A2920 - totaling 609,601 hryvnias.

In Ukraine, Dalgakiran operates four active legal entities: LLC "Sensi Engineering", LLC "Dalgakıran-Stroy", LLC "Sensi", and LLC "Dalgakıran Compressor Ukraine". Notably, LLC "Sensi" is involved in enforcement proceedings, acting as a debtor to JSC "VNIIKOMPRESSORMASH." Meanwhile, LLC "Dalgakıran Compressor Ukraine" is involved in as many as 36 enforcement proceedings; in three of them, the company is a debtor to LLC