Russia to Invest $500 Million on Syrian Port, Build Grain Hub, Extend Railway and Deliver 100,000t of Wheat in Aid

Will also help restore oil production, and the two just held the first joint naval exercise

Russia and Syria have unveiled a series of commercial and relief projects in Syria as Moscow looks to solidify its foothold in the war-torn country.

Russia has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an eight-year civil war and has waged an air campaign in his support in 2015.

Here are five projects Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov announced on his trip to the Syrian capital Damascus:

Oil exploration

Syria’s parliament has approved contracts for oil exploration with two Russian companies in an effort to boost production.

State news agency SANA said the deals cover exploration and production in three blocs, including an oilfield in northeast Syria and a gas field north of Damascus.

SANA said the contracts were signed earlier this year with two Russian firms it identified as Mercury LLC and Velada LLC.

Tartus port

Russia plans to invest $500 million in the next four years in the Syrian port of Tartus, Borisov was quoted as saying.

He said construction of the needed infrastructure at the port, which Russia rented from Syria for 49 years in 2017, could begin next year.

The Russian Navy operates a military facility at Tartus, Russia’s only naval foothold in the Mediterranean, where Syrian and Russian troops held their first joint drills Tuesday.

Russia also has an air base in Syria’s coastal Latakia province which it has used for air strikes against forces opposing Assad. Last month, Moscow said it had set up a helicopter base at an airport in northeastern Syria.

Grain shipments

Russia plans to build a grain hub at Tartus in order to boost its presence in Middle East markets, Borisov said.

Deliveries of 100,000 metric tons of grain in humanitarian aid to Syria will begin by the end of December and continue until late spring, he added.

Ports in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, have exported surplus grain to the port of Tartus in recent years to ensure Syria has a reliable source of food.

Railway construction

Borisov said there are plans to link Syria’s Mediterranean coast with the Persian Gulf via a railway, The Associated Press reported.

The railway and the overhauled Tartus port could make it easier for Iran to supply arms to Israel’s northern border, according to The Times of Israel. Tehran’s proxy in Lebanon could use them in future conflicts.

UN relief

Russia’s cabinet of ministers has allocated almost $17 million as part of UN relief efforts to Syria in 2019.

The earmarked funds include $5.8 million for a UN program to help Syrian municipalities most affected by the war, $5 million to restore education and children’s health systems and $3 million for the World Health Organization and the UN Population Fund.

Source: The Moscow Times


Russia, Syria Hold First Joint Naval Drills

Russia and Syria have held their first joint naval drills near Russia’s naval facility in the eastern Mediterranean, the Russian Defense Ministry’s Zvezda news channel reported Tuesday.

Russia has waged an air and sea campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2015, four years after Moscow’s Middle East ally was thrown into civil war. Russia has maintained the Tartus military facility since 1971 and recently moved to expand its foothold there until 2092.

More than 2,000 Russian and Syrian troops and around 10 vessels and boats took part in the drills at Tartus, Zvezda reported. Russian aircraft were also present.

They repelled a drone attack, an attack on a checkpoint and an attack by “scuba diving saboteurs,” according to the report and video footage. [That would certainly be useful to train against: link1, link2.]

The Russian and Syrian navies’ tactical groups performed artillery fire and conducted join maneuvering at sea, Rear Adm. Alexander Yuldashev was quoted by Interfax as saying.

“On shore, the security and defense units will combat unmanned aerial vehicles [and] illegal armed groups,” Yuldashev added.

Russia also maintains an air base in Syria, which it plans to lease from Damascus until at least 2066.

Source: The Moscow Times

10 Comments
  1. thomas malthaus says

    Russia’s benevolence and The United States striking lack their of.

  2. Natural_Texan says

    US will send Cruise Missiles and false flag gas attacks.

  3. LS says

    The Jews should have left well-enough alone. Now they’ve got real problems.

    1. Mary E says

      I would use the word Israelis rather than Jews here..because it is that country’s
      government which is joined at the hip with the Evil Empire…

      1. LS says

        I will stick with the essential attribute, thank-you.

  4. anglicus says

    Take back the oil fields as well. Kick the Warshigton war-mongers out.

  5. Garry Compton says

    Excuse me – “Russia , who annexed Crimea from Ukraine”, should read Russia, who annexed Autonomous Crimea for the Crimean people” – spacibo.. This will get the attention of the Pentagon and Israel. I’m sure, NWO Trump will do anything to accommodate the Globalists, anything to stay in power – including more Wars. Russia is on a roll – a good one. Thanks chpt Asia.

    1. Natural_Texan says

      Thanks for that.

  6. thomas malthaus says

    It would seem Russia has accepted the de facto balkanization of eastern Syria to Washington.

    The alternative might be to stick to Washington in other venues.

  7. Mary E says

    What a vast vast difference between what the US has done to Syria and how Russia is assisting Syria financially in recouping its infrastructure..and oil business.
    The US has the now inescapable title of Evil Empire and Invader for devastating middle eastern countries and stealing their natural resources – that is, oil and anything else they can manage to find and exploit -Russia, on the other hand is in the business of making a Win-Win situation happen.
    What it is doing for Syria in its efforts to make a comeback is quite honorable…
    but the US has got to be forced out of Syria and kept out! Washington is basically being given a pass to continue to sit on those fields and extract what they can to send to where?? Israel. Time to teach the US a lesson they will not forget. Get going Putin…the rest of the world is awaiting your takeover of the
    position of World Leader…and that is in a good sense: leading the way to prosperity for these countries, not forcing the Russian military on them. Real Diplomacy works and Russia is showing how it is done!

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