DAMASCUS, May 1 (NNN- Prensa Latina) Minister of Transport, Ali Hammoud, told national TV the contract with Russia in the port of Tartous is a strategic plan driving large investments for the reconstruction of Syria.
The project protects the jobs of current workers and increases job opportunities, while indicating that the lease of facilities responds to signed agreements and will be extended for 49 years according to legal requirements in this regard, he specified.
The Minister also said that Syria will receive 25 percent of revenues, regardless of costs, and this percentage will gradually increase to 35 percent after completing the expansion of the project.
According to its current state the port can generate a maximum income of 24 million dollars per year, but with the new Russian investment contract, Syria would receive 84 million dollars per year.
Tartous, capital of the province of the same name, is along with Latakia, one of the most important port centers of this nation and is located on the Mediterranean coast at about 260 kilometers northwest of Damascus.
