Syria’s new authorities have terminated an investment contract about the management of Syria’s Tartus seaport, concluded with a Russian company back in 2019, the Al Watan newspaper reported citing a senior Syrian customs official, Report informs via TASS.
“The agreement on investment into the port of Tartus, signed with a Russian company, has been annulled. All incomes from the port’s activities will be used in Syria’s interests,” Tartus province customs department chief Riad Judi said.
The 49-year-long agreement was signed between the Syrian government and Russia’s Stroytransgas company in 2019. The document envisaged that the Russian side will manage the port over that period, investing over $500 million into its modernization.
Tartus is Syria’s second largest seaport, housing Russia’s logistics naval base. The Soviet Union established a base in Tartus in 1971 in accordance with a bilateral agreement. A source told TASS last December that Russia was in talks with the new Syrian authorities about maintaining its two military bases in the country. According to the source, Moscow has obtained temporary security guarantees so the bases continue to operate normally.
