3 Syrian businessmen and media said that the new Syrian administration had canceled a contract with a Russian company to manage and operate the port of Tartous (west of the country) signed during the era of ousted President Bashar al -Assad.
A spokesman for the Syrian government explained that they could not confirm the reports, and others did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
On Thursday, the semi -official Syrian newspaper Al -Watan quoted the Director of Customs Customs, Riyad Judy, as saying that the investment contract was canceled after the Russian company STG Strichtasjas failed to fulfill the conditions of the deal concluded in 2019, which included investments in the infrastructure.
This report confirmed 3 Syrian businessmen, one of whom works in the port of Tartous.
And STG Stripping is a major construction company whose mission was to invest and develop the commercial port in Tartous and is the second largest port in Syria after the port of Latakia.
The contract is considered separate from the Russian naval base in Tartous, which was built by the Soviet Union in the 1970s, in the context of a military agreement dating back between Moscow and Damascus regarding the use of the port overlooking the Mediterranean.
Russia and the new ruling administration in Syria said they are holding talks on the future of the Russian military presence in Syria after the Syrian revolutionaries overthrew Russia’s ally on December 8, 2024.
The Kremlin comments
For his part, Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said – as the Russian Sputnik – the Russian Federation continues to dialogue with the Syrian leadership in Damascus on all important issues, and added, “We continue our contacts with the Syrian leadership on all urgent and immediate issues.”
It is noteworthy that the 49 -year -old agreement was signed between the Syrian government and the Russian company in 2019. The document stipulated that the Russian side will manage the port during this period, and will invest more than $ 500 million in its modernization.
