Russia to build grain hub in Syria for exports to Middle East

DAMASCUS, Nov 1 (PRIME) -- Russia will build a large grain hub in Syria for exports to the Middle East region, Syrian Transport Minister Ali Hammoud told PRIME on Thursday.

“The Russian government and we have reached an agreement on creation of a center for exports of Russian wheat to other countries in the region from Syria in the future. In connection to that, we need to expand the ports of Syria and to create grain storages on the territories of ports to receive very large cargoes of Russian grain,” he said.

Syria will also need other transport infrastructure. “That is why we will need a railroad and highways, and this will be included into the complex and finished project that we hope to start very soon,” he said.

Syria is also interested in upgrading its aircraft fleet, and Hammoud asked Moscow to make Syria a priority buyer of Russia’s MC-21 planes. “We have information that works on the plane may be finished until the end of 2019. We will be among the first buyers of the Russian plane that would substitute the Syrian aircraft fleet for this type of the plane,” he said.

Hammoud also called for Russian national flagship carrier Aeroflot to restart flights to Syria cancelled in August 2012.

“We think that the reasons behind the company’s cancellation of the flights are already a thing of the past. We want to invite Aeroflot to return to Syria … and become the first international airline to resume its work here,” he said.

The Syrian Transport Ministry is considering expansion of the airport of Damascus or construct a new airport together with Russia, he said.

During the war, 1,800 kilometers of railroads were destroyed in Syria out of 2,450 kilometers the country had. Damascus would need to restore that starting from the Homs–Damascus railway in 2019, and Russia is most capable to help Syria in this endeavor, he said.

He also said that the ministry was working with Russian construction company Stroytransgaz on expansion of the seaport and grain storages of the city of Tartus.

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