Nynas’ Focus: Sustainable Growth

In our interview with Emil Çüçülayef, Nynas Türkiye and Central Asia Sales Manager, we discussed the company’s growth strategy in the region, its leading product groups, particularly transformer oils, and its sustainability vision. Çüçülayef evaluated the opportunities presented by energy transition and electrification, while explaining the added value that Nynas offers to its customers in Türkiye and Central Asia through its technical expertise and application-specific solutions.

First of all, could you introduce yourself and your role at Nynas to our readers? Could you briefly tell us about Nynas’ history?
I was born in İstanbul in 1987. After graduating from the German High School, I graduated from İstanbul Technical University’s Department of Chemical Engineering. I then completed my master’s degree in Engineering and Technology Management at Boğaziçi University and started my professional career in sales in the iron and steel sector. I then worked in sales in the industrial coatings sector for approximately seven years. During this period, I also completed the MBA program at Galatasaray University. I joined Nynas in 2020 as Türkiye Sales Manager. I have been managing our sales activities in Türkiye for more than six years. As of 2024, the Central Asian market was added to my area of responsibility, and today I work on developing our sales activities in Türkiye and Central Asia, managing our customer relationships, and implementing Nynas’ growth strategy in the region. Nynas is an international company with roots in Sweden and nearly a century of industrial experience, specializing in naphthenic specialty oils and bitumen. One of the most important aspects that distinguishes Nynas from classic oil companies is its focus on transforming oil into long-lasting, high-value-added products instead of burning it primarily as an energy source. We briefly express this with the approach of “using oil instead of burning it.”

Today, Nynas’ specialty naphthenic oils are used in many critical industrial sectors such as energy, transformers, tires, rubber, lubricants, and chemicals. We have been operating in Türkiye since 1999. We serve our industrial customers with a wide product portfolio ranging from transformer oils to process and base oils, as well as specialty oils developed for different industrial applications. Looking particularly at the energy sector, our transformer oils play a critical role in the reliability of electrical infrastructure and the long-term performance of transformers. Our process oils used in the tire and rubber sectors contribute to production performance and final product properties, while our specialty oils offer solutions for a wide variety of technical applications in the chemical and lubricant sectors. To put Nynas’ global impact into a few figures; our products play a role in the electricity infrastructure that reaches approximately 1.25 billion people across our focus sectors. While Nynas bitumens are widely used in road infrastructure, our naphthenic oils are also used in the production processes of vehicle tires used by hundreds of millions of drivers worldwide.

Today, with the energy transition, reducing the direct use of oil as fuel is becoming increasingly important. In contrast, petroleum derivatives continue to be an important part of daily life and industry, from electrical infrastructure to tires, and from chemicals to numerous industrial products. This is exactly where Nynas’ approach differs: transforming raw material into high-performance, long-lasting products, some of which can serve for decades, instead of consuming it as fuel. In Türkiye, since 1999, we have focused not only on responding to existing customer demands but also on developing new solutions by analyzing the future needs of the market and technology. I believe this approach is one of the fundamental elements of Nynas having a strong and sustainable position both in Türkiye and in the Central Asian markets where we are currently growing.

Nynas has a wide range of products including bitumen, base oils, process oils, transformer oils, and tire-rubber oils. Which product groups are most in demand in the Türkiye and Central Asia markets, and how do you assess the dynamics behind this demand?
Türkiye and Central Asia have quite different market dynamics. Thanks to its strong and diversified industrial infrastructure, Türkiye offers a wide range of applications for Nynas. The tire and rubber, lubricant, chemical, and energy sectors are among the prominent areas for us in Türkiye. Therefore, in addition to our transformer oils, our base oils, process oils, and specialty naphthenic oils for the tire-rubber sector see significant demand in the Türkiye market. In particular, process oils used in the tire and rubber sector are now considered not only as an input to the production process but also as a technical component that directly affects the performance of the final product. Properties such as low-temperature performance, polymer compatibility, low volatility, and high solvency power are becoming increasingly decisive in product selection. Nynas’ expertise in naphthenic oil technology and wide product portfolio provide a significant advantage at this point. Another important product group for us in Türkiye is transformer oils. In addition to investments in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure, the increasing importance that industrial facilities place on energy reliability supports demand for high-quality insulating oils. In this area, we serve both transformer manufacturers and end users in the energy and industrial sectors with our NYTRO® product family. Looking at Central Asia, the energy infrastructure holds a much more decisive position. Investments aimed at developing electricity generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure in the region, particularly in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, are increasing the need for new power and distribution transformers. The integration of renewable energy investments into the grid and growing electricity demand also support this transformation. Therefore, NYTRO® transformer oils are one of our most strategic and fastest-growing product groups in Central Asia. Transformer oil is a quite specific and critical product. Inside the transformer, it provides electrical insulation while also playing an important role in cooling the equipment. Especially in high-voltage and large power transformers, the quality of the oil is of critical importance in terms of the equipment’s reliability, maintenance needs, and service life. Therefore, customers now look not only at product price but also at compliance with international standards, oxidation stability, low-temperature performance, low maintenance costs, consistency in product quality, and supply reliability. Central Asia’s climate conditions are also an important factor here. In markets where very low temperatures can be observed in winter months, the flow and viscosity properties of transformer oil at low temperatures become critical. The strong low-temperature performance of naphthenic oils makes Nynas’ product technology quite suitable for the region’s operating conditions. Our approach is not just to supply products, but to offer the right product for the right application. We evaluate technical requirements together with transformer manufacturers, energy companies, and end users; we determine the appropriate solution by taking into account parameters such as equipment design, voltage level, operating conditions, and climate. To summarize, Türkiye is a mature and strategic market for us where transformer, tire-rubber, base, process, and specialty oils are all strong together thanks to the diversity of industrial production. Central Asia, on the other hand, carries significant growth potential in transformer oils, particularly through electrification and energy infrastructure investments. In the coming period, we will continue to respond to the different needs of these two markets with Nynas’ technical expertise and application-specific product portfolio.

Sustainability holds an important place in Nynas’ strategy; your goal of being climate neutral by 2050 and the NYNAS EVO product series are steps taken in this direction. How are you bringing this sustainability vision to the Türkiye and Central Asia markets?
Sustainability is not a topic limited to certain product groups for Nynas; it is one of the fundamental elements of our company’s long-term strategy. As Nynas, we aim to achieve net zero in Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In addition, we have a target of reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% and Scope 3 emissions by 25% by 2030, compared to the 2017 base year. We do not see this vision solely as reducing emissions in our own operations. We are also focused on developing products that can help our customers reduce their own carbon footprints through the raw materials they use. The NYNAS EVO product series is one of the most important examples of this. I think the most important aspect of the EVO series is that it does not require a choice between sustainability and technical performance.

By using raw materials derived from biological waste in the production process, Nynas can reduce the product carbon footprint by 25% in most products within the EVO portfolio. This reduction is verified through a third-party reviewed life cycle assessment and certified under ISCC PLUS using the mass balance approach. In addition, EVO products have been developed to maintain the same specifications and performance as existing Nynas products. Therefore, in many applications, our customers can reduce their carbon footprint when switching from their existing products to the EVO equivalent without needing to change formulations or obtain new product approvals. From our perspective, this is a very important advantage for sustainable transformation to become widespread in industry.

In our work with industrial customers in Türkiye in particular, we position the EVO portfolio through this approach. EVO alternatives exist in different specialty naphthenic product segments of Nynas, ranging from transformer oils to base and process oils, and tire and rubber applications. This way, we can offer our customers the opportunity to switch to alternatives with a lower product carbon footprint while maintaining their current technical performance. In Central Asia, the energy transition holds an important place for us. As electrification increases, transformers become even more critical for the reliability of electrical infrastructure. Nynas is also developing sustainable transformer fluids for different needs to support the energy transition. Within this portfolio, in addition to NYTRO® EVO products that offer a lower carbon footprint with the same performance, we also have different solutions such as NYTRO® RR 900X, which uses re-refined transformer oil as raw material, and NYTRO® BIO 300X, which is produced from renewable raw material. To summarize our approach in Türkiye and Central Asia, we see sustainability not as a compromise on performance, but as offering existing high technical performance with a lower environmental impact. By offering solutions suited to our customers’ applications and sustainability goals, we are trying to translate Nynas’ global sustainability vision into concrete products and applications in our region.

What are the main challenges faced by your customers in the region, and how does Nynas provide added value in solving these challenges?
We can say that three main issues stand out today for our customers in Türkiye and Central Asia: supply security, selection of the correct technical product, and sustainability. Especially in recent years, fluctuations in global supply chains have made the continuity of supply as critical as product quality. As Nynas, we offer our customers a reliable and sustainable supply structure through our international production and supply network. One of the most important elements that differentiates us is our technical expertise. We do not just supply products to our customers; we support them in selecting the right product by evaluating application conditions, required performance, and relevant standards. This technical approach provides significant added value, especially in the challenging climate conditions of Central Asia. In summary, we can define Nynas’ strength in the region as the combination of high product quality, technical expertise, wide product portfolio, and reliable supply capability.

How do energy transition and electrification processes affect demand, especially in the transformer oils segment? How do you view the opportunities specific to Türkiye and Central Asia in this area?
Energy transition and electrification constitute an important growth dynamic for transformer oils. The integration of renewable energy sources into the system, the expansion of electricity grids, and the transition to a less centralized energy structure naturally bring along a greater need for transformers. Renewable energy investments and the development of grid infrastructure in Türkiye, and increasing energy needs and investments in electricity infrastructure in Central Asia, constitute significant opportunities for us. Especially considering Central Asia’s challenging climate conditions, low-temperature performance also becomes a critical technical criterion. As Nynas, with our NYTRO® product family, we can respond to a wide range of applications, from distribution transformers to high-voltage and HVDC applications.

The low viscosity, strong low-temperature performance, dielectric strength, and heat transfer properties of our naphthenic transformer oils enable us to meet the needs of changing energy systems. Therefore, we view Türkiye and Central Asia as strategic markets where electrification and the transformation of energy infrastructure will support demand for transformer oils in the long term.

Could you tell us about Nynas’ future goals and growth strategy in Türkiye and Central Asia? Is there a message you would like to convey to your business partners and customers in the region?
Our main goal in the upcoming period is to further advance our strong customer relationships and market position in Türkiye, while sustainably growing our presence in Central Asia. We see this not just as increasing sales volume; but as being closer to our customers, developing our technical collaborations, and establishing long-term strategic partnerships.

Electrification and energy transition, in particular, are creating significant opportunities for transformer oils. We also see in Nynas’ official results that electrification trends are strengthening demand for transformer oils. In addition, we want to continue developing our strong position in base oils, process oils, and tire-rubber applications in Türkiye. Customer needs, sustainability, innovation, and strategic collaborations are at the center of Nynas’ 2035 strategy. We are also building our growth in Türkiye and Central Asia on the same foundations.

The message I want to give to our customers and business partners in the region is very clear: we want them to see Nynas not just as a product supplier, but as a reliable solution partner that stands by them with product quality, technical expertise, and a long-term collaboration approach. We will continue to grow together and create long-term value in the region.