Russia to invest $500 million to modernize Syrian port of Tartus
In the next four years, Russia plans to allocate $500 million for the modernization of the Syrian port of Tartus, which has been home to the permanent Russian naval base from 2017.
"The Russian side intends to streamline the work of the old port and build a new trading port," said the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov during a working visit to Syria, as cited by TASS. In addition, according to Borisov, a new railway will be built through several Syrian regions, connecting Syria with Iraq. This will create a Mediterranean Sea - Persian Gulf transport corridor. According to him, 3.7 thousand jobs have already been created in Tartus despite the low port traffic.
Russia and Syria signed an agreement on the Russian naval base near the port of Tartus in early 2017. The document assumes the presence of Russian ships in the Syrian port for a period of 49 years. Later, according to the agreement, it will be automatically renewed if neither party notifies the other of the intention to terminate it. At the end of 2017, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that it plans to spend 3.2 billion rubles ($510 million USD) annually on the expansion of the base in Syria's Tartus.
Until 2017, Tartus was a Russian logistics point, which remained there after the collapse of the Soviet Union.