Syrian seaports on the map. Russia leases the port of Tartus in Syria, entering the Mediterranean Sea as an economic power. Russian corvettes with Caliber missiles headed to Tartus

It was announced more than officially, at the level of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government: the port of Tartus in Syria will be leased to Russia within the next week. For 49 years. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov after his meeting with the President of the Syrian Republic Bashar al-Assad.

A port for the military and a port for businessmen

We have made very good progress in this matter and hope that within a week the contract will be signed and the port of Tartus will be operated by Russian business for 49 years,

Yuri Borisov announced.

At the same time, he outlined the interests not only of Russia and its military, which have been using Tartus for several decades as a logistics support point for the fleet: “I hope that this will play in favor, first of all, of the Syrian economy.”

The Deputy Prime Minister did not explain exactly what this would look like, but noted that the use of the port of Tartus is “a key issue that should give positive dynamics.”

Yu. Borisov. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Borisov said that the corresponding decision was made at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission in December 2018. His current trip to Syria “secured all these agreements,” which, however, some analysts point out, may actually mean that “these agreements” were not yet secured at a reliable official level, and the current announcement of such a significant event from the outside in general a not very talkative deputy prime minister means some additional knot in order to strengthen the achieved positions.

Let us recall that back in Soviet times, Russia maintained a logistics support point for the fleet in Tartus. Although this is often called a base, in fact it is precisely a place for parking and refueling and loading of ships, not at all extraterritorial in relation to the host country. That is, not a military base with the corresponding legal status, defensive structures, its own military administration, and so on.

A step towards the development of the PMTO to the status of a naval base was made at the beginning of 2017, when an agreement was signed to expand and modernize the support point in Tartus. It was concluded for 49 years, and then it was supposed to be automatically extended for another 25 years if neither party notified the other in writing and - importantly - through diplomatic channels of its intention to terminate it.

Legal regime of lease

From the point of view of international legislation, all inhabited territories of our planet are divided into 3 types: state territory, territories with an international regime and territories with a mixed regime.

Tartus. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

A lease of territory is “a temporary grant by one state to another state of the right to use part of its territory on a contractual basis.” In these circumstances, the leased area continues to be the lessor's government territory, but the lessee government may exercise jurisdiction over the area in accordance with the lease agreement.

This means that the port of Tartus becomes a territory with a mixed regime, and in fact - a territory where laws will apply Russian Federation and exercise Russian jurisdiction.

By the way, on similar conditions - except that on the leased territory there is Russian legislation with some exceptions, - under an agreement dated 1962, Finland leases from Russia the Russian part of the Saimaa Canal, connecting the basin of the Saimaa lake system in Finland with the Vyborg Bay. This is the largest canal for our neighbors, part of which runs through our territory and for the operation of which they pay us rent.

To put it simply, Russia is getting its own port in the Mediterranean Sea. You could say personal. Even if under the supreme law of the sovereign state, that is, in in this case- Syria.

We do not know further specifics of the agreements, but, presumably, in Tartus itself a separate area should also be allocated - or built - for the residence of personnel of the Russian port, with corresponding infrastructure, public, educational, law enforcement and defense points. That is, in a sense, Russia gets its own city in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Ships of the Russian Navy. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Geostrategic and geopolitical moment

So, the port of Tartus becomes a Russian port. And not only military, but also civilians. What does this mean for Russian geopolitical interests?

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From a military point of view, everything is quite clear and even, oddly enough, transparent. There remains a logistics center for the Russian Navy at the port, but now this is becoming a purely technical concept. In fact, the Russian fleet - on virtually its own territory - can deploy a full-fledged naval base. This, in turn, means great opportunities to increase the range of Russian Varshavyanka-class submarines, which currently have limited autonomy. This means the possibility of a permanent presence of surface ships - as the core of the future Mediterranean flotilla. This flotilla from this base will be able to put up a curtain all the way to the island of Crete within 24 hours. That is, the entire Eastern Mediterranean becomes under Russian control.

For Syria, Tartus, leased by the Russians, becomes an additional guarantor of security. This is also quite obvious.

Less obvious is the place for business here, which, however, Yuri Borisov did not fail to specifically mention. However, even here there are quite obvious consequences of the decision made.

Of course, the first to come to Tartus to establish a foothold is not Jamal or Gurgen with their belyashi and khachapuri. Although it is possible that the entire city beyond the port will be declared a free trade zone. A sort of Odessa from the 19th century.

Photo: www.globallookpress.com

But still, the first to open the way there is clearly a large government business- oil and gas corporations, transport companies, trading traders. The prospect of making Tartus a large oil and gas transportation hub, which will supply, for example, Iranian, Iraqi, and even Kuwaiti oil, is quite clear. And then, lo and behold, the Saudi one. And Qatari gas. After all, these bearded guys in white burnouses have been feeding for so long civil war in Syria precisely in order to lay product pipelines through it for their natural resources. Now they can say “please!” - only now under Syrian (more precisely, Syrian-Russian) jurisdiction and control.

In the future, Tartus may well become one of the important centers for the Chinese transport project “One Belt - One Road”.

Finally, the port of Tartus can - let's say, and should - become a gateway to the Middle East for cargo from Russia. Grain, cars, weapons. In general, what we are rich in and happy about is getting money for it.

Well, of course, there is something to take out of Syria. Especially if, through certain discounts and well-known business technologies, export flows from the Middle East are directed here.

They say that the first ships with goods have already left...

The deputy head of the Russian government said that the port in the Syrian city will soon be taken over by Russian business, RIA Novosti reports. Its service life will be 49 years. Other details are in the material Federal agency news (FAN).

Last week, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister visited Arab republic, where, in particular, he met with SAR President Bashar al-Assad. According to him, this trip confirmed previous agreements with the Syrian side regarding Tartus, and all issues regarding the use of the port were resolved. Accordingly, the final contract will most likely be signed within the next few days.

Let us recall that earlier representatives of the Syrian leadership reported that the Russian side plans to build an airport in Tartus. This was announced at the end of 2018 by the head of the planning and international cooperation SAR Imad Al-Sabuni to the local publication Al Watan.

Since the beginning of 2017, a Russian Navy base has already been operating on the port territory. The agreement on the deployment of a naval group of Russian armed forces was also signed for a period of 49 years with the possibility of automatic extension for subsequent periods of 25 years.

Head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the Russian Economic University named after G. V. Plekhanov, military expert Andrey Koshkin I am confident that, relying on Tartus, Russia will be able to implement a lot of projects that will be profitable for both Moscow and Damascus. He expressed this assumption in a commentary for FAN.

“Negotiations on Tartus between Russia and Syria have been going on since 2016, separate agreements were concluded, but now a contract must finally be signed that will finally approve the legal status of the port. After this, I think Russian business will be represented there in all its diversity - small, medium and large. Projects have already been developed for the construction of an airport and the restoration of the railway from Tartus to the phosphate deposits in Homs. Of course, there will be others now. Undoubtedly, the whole package of economic services that the port can provide will develop promisingly,” our interlocutor is confident.

This contract with the Syrian government will provide Russia with access to the Mediterranean region, now not only militarily, but also economically, he added.

“There also remains a logistics support point for the Russian Navy. It can accommodate 11 ships at once, including those with nuclear installations. Russian submarines can also go there. That is, today we have entered the Mediterranean Sea, but now not only in a military sense - now we are also ready for broad economic cooperation in this region,” the expert emphasized.

With the help of the port in Tartus, the Russian side will be able to significantly strengthen economic ties with Syria, and to find new close partners in the Middle East. The Russian Federation, in one way or another, cooperates with some regional powers, and now direct access to the Eastern Mediterranean will help it fully develop trade and other relations.

“The direct Russian economic presence in the region will significantly contribute to the restoration and development of the potential of the Syrian Arab Republic, and, undoubtedly, ties with other Middle Eastern states will be established. Accordingly, the Russian Federation will be able to assert its role there not only as a military power capable of ensuring security and destroying terrorists, but also as a country that is capable of building mutually beneficial economic relations with many countries. All this will finally move the armed conflict in Syria into the realm of a full-fledged political settlement and economic revival,” concluded Andrei Koshkin.

He stated that a contract should be signed within a week, after which the Syrian port of Tartus will be transferred “to the operation of Russian business” for 49 years. This was reported by RIA Novosti.

“The key issue that should give positive dynamics is the use of the port of Tartus. The trip cemented all these agreements. We have made very good progress in this matter and hope that within a week the contract will be signed, and the port of Tartus will be operated by Russian business for 49 years,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted after a meeting with the Syrian President.

Besides, Russian politician expressed hope that this signing of the document will benefit the Syrian economy. He added that the agreement will significantly affect Syrian-Russian trade turnover.

At the end of 2018, Syrian authorities reported that Russian companies will build an airport in the port city of Tartus. This was reported by the head of the Syrian Department of Planning and International Cooperation, Imad al-Sabuni, to the Al-Watan newspaper.

According to him, an airport will be built on the site of the agricultural airfield. This decision was made within the framework of BOT (Build-operate-transfer) cooperation.

It is expected that 30 projects that were included in the “road map” of the agreement on industrial and trade cooperation with Russia will be implemented from 2019 to 2021. Construction will be carried out within the framework of agreements concluded at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission.

In addition to the construction of the airport, as the official noted, the railways from phosphate mines to the port of Tartus. In addition, one of the most important industrial projects, according to al-Sabuni, will be launched to restore the tire factory in Hama. In addition, a cement plant in Aleppo and a Russian-Syrian laboratory for the production of vaccines will be built.

At the beginning of 2017, Russia and Syria signed an agreement on the stationing of the Russian Navy in the port of Tartus for 49 years.

This agreement "shall be automatically renewed for successive 25-year periods unless either party notifies the other party in writing through diplomatic channels of its intention to terminate it at least one year before the end of the subsequent period," according to the document released by on the official Internet portal of legal information.

According to the document, 11 warships, including ships with a nuclear power plant, can be in the port at the same time.

In October 2016, Secretary of State - Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Nikolai Pankov announced that Russia plans to create a naval base operating on a permanent basis in Tartus. “In Syria, we will have a permanent naval base in Tartus. The relevant documents have been prepared, they are undergoing interdepartmental approval procedures,” he said then.

At the end of 2017, the Russian President signed a law ratifying the agreement with Syria, which provides for the expansion of the territory of the logistics center of the Russian Navy (Navy) in the area of ​​the Syrian port of Tartus.

The water area and port territory came under Russian jurisdiction. Thus the property Russian base became inviolable in this place and was freed from search, inspection and arrest. Russia, in turn, provides air protection and security of the territory’s maritime borders, while Syria is engaged in external security of the base.

At the same time, they reported that 3.2 billion rubles would be required to expand the naval base in Syrian Tartus. annually. “Expenses - 3.2 billion rubles. in year. They are provided for in the budget,” the ministry said.

Let us note that back in 1971, the USSR and Syria signed a document on the deployment of a military base in Tartus. It was created primarily to repair ships and supply them with fuel and consumables. In 1977, the Navy base began operating there.

The German publication Contra Magazin asks why Russia is putting so much effort into Syria? Is a piece of desert, a little oil (a little more than necessary for self-sufficiency), a little Mediterranean beach worth the investment? No, that in itself would not be worth the effort.

You might think that Syria is an important milestone in the context of China's New Silk Road initiative, so perhaps we're talking about about economic interests. China is already very strong in Lebanon and can now become very economically strong in Syria. This may be the reason, but it is not. In fact, there is another, much more important reason.

Problem for NATO. Russia has signed agreements for bases in Syria - for Latakia as an air force base and for Tartus as a naval base. The agreements will operate from 2017 - for 49 years.

Russia has S-400 type anti-aircraft batteries located in Latakia. These anti-aircraft batteries cover the Turkish NATO base Incirlik, as well as the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus. That is, NATO aircraft fly there only because the Russians passively allow it - they can intercept any plane flying from there.

The Syrian port of Tartus has always been important for Russia. Previously, during Soviet times, there was a crew of 50-60 people here with a repair ship, which, if necessary, went out to the Mediterranean Sea to help warships. This is a kind of support base for warships, this was before, not during the war.

Currently, Russia is expanding Tartus into a military port to accommodate any warship of the Russian Navy, including submarines (with a battery station).

Tartus should become the main seaport for the Russian Black Sea Fleet, after which Russia no longer needs the Black Sea. On the one hand, the Black Sea is controlled by Russia with land-based aircraft, and on the other hand with ground-based batteries.

Russian S-400 and Bastion batteries dominate the Black Sea. We no longer need our own warships in the Black Sea. By the way, the same system works in the Baltic Sea - everything is blocked from the ground by aircraft and batteries.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet could be used by Russia as the "Eastern Mediterranean Fleet" with its main port at Tartus to challenge NATO's maritime rule or even take away NATO's naval dominance in the area.

Related to this is Russia's dominance over the eastern Mediterranean - and therefore the northern entrance to the Suez Canal - through the military presence of Russia's closest ally. China has a military base in Djibouti - navy and air force - with permission to deploy up to 10,000 personnel. China controls the southern entrance to the Suez Canal.

To the north of the Suez Canal there are Russians, to the south there are Chinese, a reality that is a nightmare for NATO. A nightmare that NATO would like to get out of as quickly as possible. This is why the West is making every effort to reduce Russia's influence in Syria.