Securing a steady maritime line between Syria and Russia to export citrus fruits
Ibrahim Maida, Director of the "Support and Development of Local Production and Exports Authority" said that after discussions between the "Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade" and the authority with the Russian side, an agreement was reached to secure a steady and regular maritime line between the port of Latakia and the Novorossiysk port in Russia, work to start on transport Citrus fruits on January 12, 2020.
Meade stressed that the fixed line will operate two monthly trips carrying 3,000 tons of citrus fruits to Novorossiysk Port and then overland to Moscow, within 10 days at a very simple cost.
In December 2019, Meada said, a number of senior businessmen in Crimea and the rest of Russia have expressed their willingness to ship Syrian citrus fruits and conclude their contracts, but their problem is transportation.
In July 2018, the head of the organizing committee of the Yalta International Economic Forum, Andriy Nazarov, announced the establishment of a citrus export center in Lattakia province to Russia through the ports of Crimea.
Nazarov said then that the citrus fruits would be supplied by sea to Crimea and then to the rest of Russia.
Citrus farmers in Syria suffer from repeated crises in the disposal of the crop whose production exceeds the need of local consumption, and production costs often reach close to the sale price, so farm profits remain minimal, and sometimes the sale is less than the cost.
The Syrian "Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform" had announced that citrus fruits in the country were "almost free of substances that are involved in the installation of pesticides, fungicides and herbs", and confirmed that a number of tests carried out in cooperation with a company registered in Syria to grant quality certificates for agricultural products, showed that they were " Free from all harmful substances. "
