Bringing the Bunker Suppliers Association to the International Stage

2025: A Year of Institutional Strengthening

Question: Mr. Çemrek, how do you evaluate the year 2025 for the Bunker Suppliers Association?

Hasan Çemrek: For our association, 2025 was not only a period of intense activity but also a year in which our institutional capacity became more defined and structured. In a global energy market marked by growing uncertainties and increasingly decisive regulations, we focused on a sustainable, data-driven approach that prioritized collective wisdom.

Our main priority was to strengthen a structure that supports members’ field activities, enhances representation, and builds trust.

Institutional Strength and Representation

Throughout the year, our association demonstrated a clearer and more consistent stance before public institutions, industry stakeholders, and international counterparts. As a result, GYİD has become a body whose views are sought and referenced across many platforms. Our goal was to reinforce the institutional framework that would make the association the common voice of the sector and a lasting point of reference.

The 9th Istanbul Bunker Conference was one of the most concrete outcomes of this approach. The entry into force of the SOx ECA regulation in the Mediterranean on May 1, 2025, made the conference even more meaningful. Istanbul thus became an important meeting point where regulation, technical transformation, and operational compliance were discussed.

Communication and Common Language

Another focus in 2025 was communication. As an association, our aim was to establish a narrative that is simpler, clearer, yet profound enough to accurately express the sector’s needs.

Question: What are the association’s priorities for 2026?

Hasan Çemrek: We see 2026 as a year of enhanced international visibility and stronger institutional representation. One of our most important steps will be the event we will host in London on February 8, 2026, during International Energy Week.

With this organization, we aim to directly present the association’s institutional capacity, expertise, and representational strength on an international platform. We view the London gathering as a strategic step where new contacts will be established, existing relations deepened, and the association’s position in the international arena strengthened.

To support this expansion, we plan to:

• Strengthen technical and regulation-focused working groups for the post-SOx ECA period,

• Prepare guiding documents and common position papers for our members,

• Build an institutional memory to preserve the value created so far,

• Encourage young professionals to engage with the association’s work at earlier stages.

2025 taught us resilience and coordination, while 2026 will be about scaling up and enhancing visibility. The step we will take in London marks an important milestone in our long-term journey. With this move, our association will become more visible and more effective in the international arena.