Syria to involve Russia in construction of railway to Iraq
Russian companies will take part in the restoration of the railway network in Syria, as well as the construction of a new branch that will stretch across the entire country, stated the chief of the Damascus branch of the Syrian Railways (SZD), Radvan Tikriti, reported RIA Novosti.
“The SZD goal is to restore connections between the provinces, as well as link them with neighboring countries, bringing routes to the border with Iraq and in the future to the border with Turkey. Plan also includes building a new branch from Damascus to the borders with Jordan to provide for the North-South route from Europe to the Persian Gulf through Turkey, Syria and Jordan,” he said. According to Tikriti, Russian companies will definitely participate in the reconstruction works. Specifically, Russia is expected to supply railway carriages, said Tikriti. The possibility for Russia’s participation in the restoration of the Syrian railways was already reported previously.
In October 2017, Damascus approached Russian Railways with a proposal to take part in the restoration of railway tracks to phosphate mines near Palmyra. A 290 km long line should connect the mines to the coast. The cost of the project, according to various estimates, could be $ 1.45–2 billion. Russian Railways studied Damascus’s proposal but did not announce any decision. Russian companies are already engaged in the implementation of various projects in Syria. In June 2017, Stroytransgaz company lead by Gennady Timchenko began work on the restoration of phosphate mining near Palmyra. The same area that was suggested for railway works to Russian Railways.
In July 2018, the Russian company STG Logistic began to restore the tourist cluster on the Mediterranean coast in the village of Al-Manara (Tartus province). The heads of this company, CEO Igor Kazak and regional director Zahid Shakhsuvarov, previously worked at Stroytransgaz.