Chef Nusrat is in trouble … and the reason is debts!
Nusrat Gökçe, a Turkish chef famous for his salt sprinkle, is facing financial difficulties, as the restaurant’s owner has entered into talks with lending banks to delay payments of 2.3 billion euros ($ 2.7 billion) in debt restructured last year.
The investment group “Dogus Holding”, which owns the restaurant, is still in talks with banks after the Corona pandemic dries up the sources of its cash flows.The Istanbul-based group has told lenders that it may not be able to make the payments, Bloomberg cited sources familiar with the matter.
The debt of the investment group, run by businessman Frit Shehink, rose by 17% over the past year, reaching 28.6 billion liras ($ 5.2 billion).
The restaurant “Nusrat”, famous for its “salt pinch”, has branches in many countries of the world, and has become a destination for celebrities to eat delicious steaks and enjoy the special touch of sprinkling salt.
The Turkish Investment Group disposed of several hotels during the past year, in order to ensure the implementation of the agreement it signed last December with the credit institutions, but the agreement does not cover even half of the company’s debts.
Like other Turkish companies, the owner of the “Nusrat” restaurant chain is experiencing difficulties in paying the office in foreign currency after the exchange rate of the lira decreased during the past year.
Earlier, “Dogus Holding” resorted to selling several projects in Turkey, the United States and Spain due to financial pressures, but the steps were not the end of this trouble.
