A Russian firm is to take over Syria's largest port for 49 years and invest $500 million in expanding it, the transport minister in Damascus said Thursday. A deal would be signed for the "management, expansion and operation" of Tartous port with Russian company Stroytransgaz, Transport Minister Ali Hammoud was quoted as telling pro-government newspaper Al-Watan. "The length of the contract - 49 years - was decided after a feasibility study" so both sides could reap benefits, it said.
Russia has a naval base in Tartous and has been a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria's eight-year civil war, providing it with crucial military backing.
The minister on Tuesday told Syrian state television that the port, which started operating in the 1960s, was not deep enough to allow heavy ships to dock.
"Tartous is an old port whose docks range between four and 13 metres (13 and 43 feet) deep," he said.
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