Syria Receives First Wheat and Cement Shipments at Former Russian Tartous Berth
First Civilian Shipments Arrive at Tartous Port After Russian Handover
By Mahmoud Hassano
Arrival of Wheat and Cement Shipments
TARTOUS PORT, Syria Aug 12 (Reuters) - Syria received its first shipments of wheat and cement materials this week at a berth previously used by Russian forces, according to officials at the Tartous port, where Reuters reporters saw Russian forces packing up materials and moving out of parts of the pier.
Both shipments arrived on Tuesday, two days after Damascus announced it had reached an agreement with Moscow on the future of Russian bases at Tartous and the Hmeimim airport, both in Syria's northwestern coastal regions.
Agreement Details and Facility Management
Syria's foreign ministry said the deal would see Syria take over management of civilian facilities, including Hmeimim airport and the commercial berth at Tartous port, and that military facilities would be repurposed as joint training facilities.
Operational Changes at Tartous Port
"We began operating berth 4 yesterday after taking it over from the Operations Department. Work commenced immediately with the reception of two vessels in succession," Youssef Arnous, the head of Tartous port's operations and investment department, told Reuters on Wednesday.
He said that specific berth could accommodate up to three vessels simultaneously and that storage yards directly opposite the pier could reduce vessel waiting time during anchorage.
Origins of the Shipments and Russian Withdrawal
LSEG data showed that both vessels had come from Turkish ports but it was not immediately clear where they had originated.
Reuters reporters at the port on Wednesday saw Russian forces moving out of a building near the pier and relocating material to another military facility nearby.
Russian Military Presence and Future Arrangements
It was not immediately clear how many Russian forces remain at Tartous or in Hmeimim. A Syrian source familiar with the arrangement said some Russian military forces would stay in Syria as part of the deal.
The future of the bases became uncertain after Russian ally Bashar al-Assad fled the country in 2024. The memorandum followed 18 months of intensive negotiations.
Geopolitical Significance of Tartous and Hmeimim
Russia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it saw the deal as "an important step aimed at further improving bilateral cooperation in the military sphere".
Russia has long viewed its naval and air bases in Syria as a key source of geopolitical clout in the Middle East and power projection across the Mediterranean and into Africa.
Strategic Role of Tartous Facility
The Tartous facility is Russia's only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub, and Moscow has used Syria as a staging post to fly its military contractors in and out of Africa.
Reuters reported in July that parts of the fourth berth in Tartous that had been used by Russia's military would be transformed into a commercial and logistics hub.
(Reporting by Mahmoud Hassano and Feras Dalatey; Writing by Maya GebeilyEditing by Keith Weir)
