The new Syrian authorities have terminated an investment agreement with a Russian company for the management of the Tartus port on the Mediterranean, according to Riyad Joudi, the director of the Tartus customs, who spoke to the Al-Watan news agency.
All the revenue from the port’s management will “benefit the Syrian state” and the employees will return to the local administration, he said. Joudi added that the Syrian side will also focus on the maintenance of outdated equipment, “which the company used without the modernizations foreseen in the agreement.”
In 2019, the Syrian authorities signed a 49-year investment agreement with the Russian construction company Stroitransgas to develop the Tartus port. Russia was expected to invest $500 million over four years.
According to the customs director, the Tartus port is currently “practically paralyzed” due to high customs and logistics service costs. Meanwhile, some customs duties on certain goods have been reduced by 60 percent, he told Al-Watan.
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad in early December 2024, the Syrian transitional government will be led by Mohammed al-Bashir until March 1, 2025. Prior to that, he was the head of the “Government of the Salvation of Syria” an opposition structure that has long functioned as an alternative to the official cabinet and has managed the army-occupied territories in the Idlib province. In 2022, he was, for example, the minister of development and humanitarian affairs in the region.
Last year, Russian exporters had suspended their wheat shipments to Syria, citing a lack of a negotiating partner in the country, according to the grain market. The exporters said they were ready to resume exports as soon as they established relations with the new Syrian authorities. This week, the Al Araby newspaper reported that Syrian trade authorities have banned imports from Russia, Iran, and Israel.