SYRIANNEWS — broadcast
20260920 120000 UTC
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[00:00:02] wastewater treatment plants, which are unfortunately all wastewater treatment plants
[00:00:10] are the same as in other countries. But if you now knows their suffering. This or most of the wastewater in Syria goes into rivers, lakes, and seas. Therefore, it is a priority
[00:00:14] for us to build plants that are, first, a water resource for agriculture, and second,
[00:00:18] a way to reduce pollution to our water bodies and our
[00:00:21] flowing waters. We have put this in the plan, and we have put it in the
[00:00:24] investment plan. God willing, it will be approved by the Ministry of
[00:00:27] the interventions, if you don't mind. Finance and Parliament after it is presented to them,
[00:00:31] so that they agree to
[00:00:32] and I thank him for the five stations in each governorate. If we implement a plan in this way, God willing,
[00:00:36] within a few years, we will have finished the issue of sewage.
[00:00:41] the Minister answers. I ask the Currently, we are working on the Adra station. God willing, we will re-qualify it
[00:00:43] again. We have the Aleppo station, its cost is 400 million dollars. The
[00:00:47] Al-Ramousa station
[00:00:49] were working. We rehabilitated one, and the sixth entered is also one of our priorities, and we are currently working on marketing it to the World Bank
[00:00:53] and some organizations, or we might get a loan for it because the Ministry of Finance
[00:00:57] said that they are unable to allocate this amount for the
[00:01:01] water station. The most prominent
[00:01:03] at least eight governorates challenges we have are in the sector of waste and very large losses.
[00:01:06] That is, we always see water being wasted in our homes. This requires
[00:01:10] a lot of effort and costs, and
[00:01:13] filtering this water, and chlorination, and adding
[00:01:15] underground water starts flowing in chlorine and pumping it into the water, and networks and maintenance. And people sometimes
[00:01:20] people of Raqqa in this use it for irrigation or use it for washing or for washing cars, vehicles,
[00:01:24] and roads. So, this also requires awareness and rationalization in
[00:01:28] consumption. Of course, the first and last reason for this
[00:01:31] is that the price of one cubic meter of
[00:01:33] agricultural or construction or so on, on water is currently 7 old Syrian pounds, meaning
[00:01:36] 0.007 Syrian pounds per cubic meter of
[00:01:39] water within the water tariff. So people use it
[00:01:43] and waste it. And والله, the rooftops, I saw them and pictures reached me
[00:01:46] of the rooftops when the water comes
[00:01:50] we can apply for this and the dynamo is working and there are no floats. All the water is going to
[00:01:53] but there have been encroachments on the waste. Unfortunately, it requires
[00:01:56] awareness. It requires awareness and rational management. We ask God that we have done campaigns
[00:01:59] and rationalization and so on. We also need
[00:02:02] There will be fraud, there will be fraud, meaning this your help and assistance in this matter. Water resources
[00:02:06] will mix the first material with and operational sustainability. We mentioned that we have repaired
[00:02:09] 6000 pumps and 1462
[00:02:13] generating sets and 308 new wells drilled
[00:02:17] There is no shortage of to secure drinking water, and
[00:02:19] water, and thank God, water is abundant 1051 wells rehabilitated, and 110 elevated tanks rehabilitated and built,
[00:02:23] and 206 pumping and purification stations rehabilitated, and 416
[00:02:27] solar energy systems as part of the other transformation and the transformation to
[00:02:30] clean energy and securing low production costs
[00:02:34] for water. We installed 406 solar energy stations
[00:02:37] for water pumping stations. We also worked on rehabilitating
[00:02:40] networks, 1000 rehabilitation and replacement, 11000
[00:02:44] this understands that the repairs, 26
[00:02:46] that we estimated, based on valves, 92 lines exempt from rationing, and 136
[00:02:49] conversion centers for water stations. Water projects
[00:02:52] returned to service. Service was restored to approximately 2.3
[00:02:56] million people after service was interrupted for them. The
[00:03:00] Wadi Marwan project and the Al-Laj project, the Allouk station project in Hasakah,
[00:03:03] and the Maarat al-Nu'man project in Sednaya. These were all stations out of service
[00:03:07] for 12 and 13 years. We restored them to service
[00:03:10] Raqqa's turn was taken by no one, and no colleague from and secured water for more than 2.3 million people.
[00:03:13] Smart meters. I mentioned them a while ago that we are in the process of introducing them,
[00:03:16] and the same for electricity. We signed
[00:03:18] Water desalination, even with a contract or sent a contract to a Chinese company, and we sent a delegation to
[00:03:22] China twice. The study of rehabilitating the company
[00:03:25] technically and everything is ready, and God willing, the contract is in the final touches for
[00:03:29] signing, God willing. There are about
[00:03:32] 6 million
[00:03:35] of a bacteriological analysis laboratory in smart water and electricity meters for each category. Development of sewage
[00:03:39] services. We have 16 stations that we have rebuilt, and more than
[00:03:44] our institutions are still on 2686 kilometers of sewage lines, kilometers of sewage lines that we have replaced
[00:03:49] the priorities for the next phase. It will be about affiliated with the Water Resources Directorate. This and put into service. We have partnerships in Ain al-Zarqa in Idlib. We have the rehabilitation
[00:03:52] of the water system, covering 80% of Idlib governorate.
[00:03:56] This has been agreed upon with some
[00:03:59] partners, the World Bank and other
[00:04:01] occurred as a result of this humanitarian organizations. We have the upper reaches of the Orontes River, which we will also
[00:04:04] implement, and also
[00:04:06] monitoring work that we are carrying out on the Adra water treatment plant. Now, it is within the plan and has entered
[00:04:10] And may God reward you for listening, and excuse us for into force. Approximately
[00:04:12] desire from 2.2 million people will benefit from it.
[00:04:14] The goals are sustainability in water sources, network development,
[00:04:19] reached a point where it could not sewage development, improving operational efficiency,
[00:04:19] 2027 plan. Also, among the and digital transformation through smart meters
[00:04:24] needed to hear this and leading that received qualitative increases, and I presented this the building of a leading system
[00:04:26] for the water sector and managing dams and water resources. With water
[00:04:30] resources and dams, we have
[00:04:31] whoever registers for the 164 dams with a capacity of approximately
[00:04:34] two things: do not 19.033
[00:04:36] billion cubic meters. The largest of them are, of course, the Euphrates Dam and the
[00:04:40] Tishrin Dam. We also have other dams
[00:04:44] that are dams that
[00:04:47] provide water for reclamation projects and irrigation projects.
[00:04:51] We have approximately 18 km of total irrigation networks
[00:04:54] of all types, and also 285 pumping
[00:04:58] stations. As for the Euphrates,
[00:05:02] Tishrin, and Qdeiran, these are three dams on the Euphrates
[00:05:04] answers will be given, and we will read them in River, and we are currently studying a fourth dam. It is
[00:05:07] currently under study. The Halabiyeh and Zalabiyeh project will be offered for investment, God willing.
[00:05:10] The benefit is that it is not so much a collection dam
[00:05:14] as it is a regulatory dam that generates approximately 75 megawatts of electricity from three units in it,
[00:05:18] like the Qdeiran Dam, in addition to its use for
[00:05:22] irrigation and land reclamation. The most prominent
[00:05:26] challenges for water resources are also the same. The aging of equipment
[00:05:29] and technical staff. For example, at the Euphrates Dam, we have eight units, four of which are out of service, as
[00:05:33] one of the honorable members mentioned. Two of them have their technical,
[00:05:37] electrical, and mechanical studies ready, God willing.
[00:05:40] We might put them
[00:05:43] in the Euphrates Dam Authority's investment plan for 2026.
[00:05:47] If approved, God willing, and 2027 if approved, God willing,
[00:05:50] for the 2027 budget, we will enter two units and begin rehabilitating
[00:05:54] two units. Tishrin Dam has
[00:05:56] five units. We rehabilitated one. Six units were there, one was out of service, five
[00:06:02] service. There are some technical problems, but in general,
[00:06:05] the dam's condition needs these dams because
[00:06:09] we haven't been involved in the dam and its management for a long time. Up until now, the past period was
[00:06:13] evaluation and water regulation and improving the quality
[00:06:16] and output of the stations because we had a good water inflow during the past period from Turkey
[00:06:20] because it was 200 cubic meters per second, as the professor mentioned, approximately 220 cubic meters
[00:06:23] per second. Now it's about 1000 cubic meters per second.
[00:06:27] Of course, the Euphrates River bed
[00:06:30] is important. It is designed for 3000 cubic meters per
[00:06:33] second. We release water. So last time, when the
[00:06:36] release happened, first of all, thank God, there was no crisis, and there were no losses. What happened
[00:06:40] is that there are many encroachments, whether
[00:06:46] the river. So today, if we release 2000 cubic meters per second,
[00:06:49] there will be problems, even though by law, in water legislation,
[00:06:53] 3000 cubic meters is the river's sanctuary. So people have
[00:06:55] encroached.
[00:07:00] No, God willing, this is designed and it used to flow like this one day,
[00:07:05] riverbed. We are saying today that we need to return to 3000
[00:07:09] cubic meters per second, meaning the riverbed and the protective
[00:07:12] zone around it, so that people don't fall into danger, because today
[00:07:15] any flows, last time we were
[00:07:19] filling the dams because the dams were severely deficient
[00:07:23] until some stations went out of service due to the receding dam
[00:07:26] waters. After we refilled the dams, Turkey
[00:07:30] gave us a warning the day before that we had a problem with increasing
[00:07:34] water, and we needed to increase
[00:07:37] water releases. So we started increasing water releases, and there was
[00:07:40] a problem with the Al-Rashid Bridge. They said if you immediately
[00:07:44] increase the amount to stay within the safe range,
[00:07:48] the bridge will collapse, and we are in its last moments. There are technical issues
[00:07:51] that also contributed to the problem of the earthen bridges. The professor who knows
[00:07:56] volume of water behind the earthen dam
[00:08:00] is significantly higher than the volume of water after the
[00:08:03] earthen dam. So you find that these earthen dams, these earthen bridges,
[00:08:07] once we are done with them, the Al-Siyahiya Bridge, Al-Rashid Bridge, and Al-Mayadin Bridge,
[00:08:11] once these bridges are back in service, God willing, these
[00:08:14] earthen dams will significantly reduce the problem of rising river levels.
[00:08:18] Any maintenance and rehabilitation of water facilities,
[00:08:21] 1974 km of cleaning and maintenance of irrigation canals, meaning approximately
[00:08:25] 2000 km. We were asked this question
[00:08:28] a while ago. Thank God, we started it at the beginning
[00:08:32] of the year and the season. These maintenances, all the
[00:08:36] bulldozers and engineering equipment and excavators are working around
[00:08:39] the clock, because the system has not been cleaning the canals for 15 years.
[00:08:43] So we started cleaning the canals until, thank God, we were able to cope with
[00:08:47] the heavy rainfall that occurred in some seasons and avoid these
[00:08:50] floods. We had a problem in Al-Sayha, in the area between
[00:08:53] Aleppo and Idlib. It was a problem. It was
[00:08:57] a dam that was not
[00:09:00] Al-Sayha Dam is a dam that was built by the locals, but we
[00:09:04] took responsibility for it and supported it during the past period. And now there is an emergency room with
[00:09:07] the Ministry of Emergency in order to avoid
[00:09:10] a recurrence of the damage that
[00:09:13] dam filling up. Monitoring and surveillance of the
[00:09:19] water points and samples for drinking water.
[00:09:22] Water projects under implementation: completion of four dams, and we have
[00:09:26] two other dams or three dams
[00:09:28] that we included in the
[00:09:32] strategic goals are the rehabilitation of irrigation facilities and the development of integrated monitoring
[00:09:35] and operation of dams, and enhancing water use efficiency and completing
[00:09:38] water projects and raising readiness. We have the
[00:09:42] Halabiyeh and Zalabieh dam project, which I just mentioned. It irrigates 3,000 hectares,
[00:09:45] 78 megawatts, and
[00:09:47] about 87 families will benefit from it.
[00:09:51] That is, 6,000 people.
[00:09:53] We have the Tigris irrigation project, which one of the
[00:09:57] professors also mentioned. We have a share of the Tigris
[00:10:00] water according to
[00:10:03] international laws. This share is not being utilized. We have
[00:10:07] a project to bring the Tigris River to the Khabour. This
[00:10:11] is approximately 215 thousand hectares. I saw a number here in the
[00:10:14] presentation. This is practically approximately
[00:10:18] 215,000 hectares. 150 thousand new hectares
[00:10:21] and 65 hectares which
[00:10:24] are the old ones that used to be irrigated by the Khabour, which the professor mentioned have dried up
[00:10:28] significantly and people have left the area, and no one
[00:10:32] project costs 2 billion dollars. This project is one of the most important
[00:10:35] strategic projects for securing
[00:10:39] or a vital agricultural project for employing labor and developing
[00:10:42] agriculture in the region and bringing life back to that region, which is
[00:10:46] under the name of the Green Renaissance in Al-Hasakah region and even
[00:10:49] Deir Ezzor. The other project is drawing water from the Euphrates River,
[00:10:53] which is currently, as the professor mentioned,
[00:10:57] note, that it is 571 or 572
[00:11:01] million dollars approximately, the cost of the project. This is an accurate number,
[00:11:04] but at 3 cubic meters per second, we are not talking about
[00:11:08] the entire project. If we want to convert it to agriculture, we will need
[00:11:12] 12 cubic meters per second. No, its cost will be about 1.5 billion
[00:11:16] dollars. The project is drawing water from the river, and there is a
[00:11:20] complete study with its details, God willing, and we have launched it on our platforms to receive
[00:11:23] offers. The project will start from the Euphrates Lake, and this
[00:11:26] matter is not from the share of our people in Deir Ezzor or Raqqa. It is
[00:11:30] 3 cubic meters per second compared to 100 meters that we were talking about a while ago.
[00:11:34] The releases are 3 meters out of 100 cubic meters per second that are
[00:11:37] coming. The 3 cubic meters per second project is industrial more than agricultural.
[00:11:41] It is a drinking water project for Tadmur, and then it will go to
[00:11:44] a branch that returns to Deir Ezzor. We might benefit from it in terms of
[00:11:47] livestock and raising cattle, sheep, and so on,
[00:11:51] in addition to another branch that goes from Tadmur
[00:11:55] to Hasieh, which is a project for the industrial city and for phosphate factories
[00:11:58] and for the refinery that we are building. So it is an industrial
[00:12:02] project to support mining industries and petrochemical
[00:12:05] industries, in addition to some drinking water.
[00:12:08] We launched the project, and now there are inquiries from interested
[00:12:11] companies about how
[00:12:15] project and implement it. So these three strategic projects that we have are part of
[00:12:19] our plan to implement them during the
[00:12:22] upcoming period, God willing. It is to secure water for phosphate
[00:12:25] mines and industrial cities. We have a project called the National Carrier Project,
[00:12:29] which is the project that the professor also mentioned from the
[00:12:32] coastal region. We have fresh water that goes into
[00:12:36] the sea, whether from the Sinn River or submarine water or
[00:12:39] groundwater wells or other sources.
[00:12:44] in the coastal region. So we want to capture this fresh water, collect it,
[00:12:48] and pump it to Damascus to the Al-Qutaifah
[00:12:51] reservoirs. From there, it will return by pipeline to Damascus.
[00:12:57] And these areas are the ones that will benefit, and rural Damascus, of course,
[00:13:00] from this project. The cost of the project is, so far,
[00:13:04] we have signed a contract for the study of the project. The project was not studied previously.
[00:13:07] The initial cost
[00:13:11] the quantities of water that we want to pump, is approximately
[00:13:14] 9 billion dollars for the project
[00:13:17] in general. But it is a very strategic project. First, it relieves
[00:13:21] Ain al-Fijah. Ain al-Fijah's flow dropped from 40 cubic meters per second at one point to 1.5
[00:13:25] cubic meters per second only. Today, Ain al-Fijah is supplying, so we have
[00:13:28] a water risk in the south. Therefore, we proposed this project.
[00:13:32] The professor mentioned that it will involve water desalination. There will be a part of it for desalination, but our goal is
[00:13:36] collection because desalination is expensive. Desalination costs half a
[00:13:40] dollar per cubic meter. It's not an easy number.
[00:13:43] modern technologies like RO technology, costs half a
[00:13:47] dollar per cubic meter at best. After installing solar energy systems
[00:13:50] and renewable energy, etc., they reached 37
[00:13:54] cents. I saw that in one of the projects, and it's very
[00:13:57] expensive, not including pumping, not including pumping and transport,
[00:14:01] half a dollar per cubic meter of water, right? So this will be burdensome, but
[00:14:05] collection will be easier. There are pumping and operating costs that will hopefully
[00:14:09] be manageable. This is regarding
[00:14:14] recovery to sustainability, increasing production, improving the reliability
[00:14:17] of supplies, completing infrastructure rehabilitation, transforming investments and agreements into actual
[00:14:21] projects, and we have actually started many projects. Enhancing good governance,
[00:14:25] developing cadres and capabilities. This is sustainable energy
[00:14:29] for economic recovery and national development.
[00:14:35] the length, but the files are complex and important for every Syrian
[00:14:38] citizen. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr.
[00:14:41] Minister, please take your place.
[00:14:44] Yes, as for us, four ministries, we really
[00:14:49] hearing. Now, colleagues,
[00:14:53] please,
[00:14:56] intervention,
[00:14:59] repeat the question that your colleague asked. The
[00:15:03] second thing is to register for
[00:15:06] one question so that we leave room
[00:15:09] for colleagues. And as for us, no question
[00:15:13] that has not been answered will be left unaddressed. Our colleague,
[00:15:16] the head of the Energy Committee, will collect them with our colleagues in the Energy Committee and they will
[00:15:20] write a written response to every question that was not answered in this
[00:15:24] session. Mr. Minister of Energy, and the
[00:15:29] the next session, God willing.
[00:15:32] Dear colleagues, we open
[00:15:35] the floor for registration.
[00:15:40] Okay, we will open the floor for registration for
[00:15:43] two or three minutes, and after that, we will close it, and this closure
[00:15:47] is final. The
[00:15:50] other matter,
[00:15:59] one press, guys, for the intervention. Please
[00:16:03] do not repeat. Please go straight to the question. One
[00:16:06] question, if you please. I invite my colleague
[00:16:09] Mu'ayyad to start. Five questions. Five
[00:16:13] questions we receive from five participants, and then
[00:16:18] Minister to record the questions so that
[00:16:21] they can be answered question by question so that no question
[00:16:25] is accidentally missed. May God bless you all. I invite my colleague Mu'ayyad to read the names.
[00:16:28] Colleague Nour Jandali, start from
[00:16:31] your side.
[00:16:34] Your Excellency, the Minister, Syria witnessed in recent days
[00:16:38] widespread protests covering
[00:16:41] against the rising fuel
[00:16:44] prices. This popular pressure pushed the Syrian government,
[00:16:48] after a few days, to approve a package of emergency measures, including
[00:16:52] offering three prices for diesel and restarting some
[00:16:55] local refineries to provide subsidized fuel
[00:16:58] for heating and agriculture sectors. What does
[00:17:01] the ministry learn from this societal response? Does the ministry have
[00:17:05] an institutional mechanism to measure the social impact of any
[00:17:09] economic decision before its issuance and to listen to the affected groups
[00:17:13] instead of waiting for the livelihood damage to turn into
[00:17:16] a crisis of trust between the citizen and their institutions? How
[00:17:20] will this trust be restored for marginalized groups?
[00:17:24] And will the ministry commit that any future adjustment in
[00:17:27] energy prices will be preceded by a published study of its economic
[00:17:30] and social cost,
[00:17:33] and also with a clear mechanism to protect the most affected groups? Thank you.
[00:17:39] Colleague Fajr Fawzi
[00:17:40] Al-Ahmad,
[00:17:43] In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to God, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of God. Indeed, Your Excellency, the
[00:17:47] Minister, spoke to us in numbers, and we speak
[00:17:50] in pain. I say to him, the world has narrowed for us despite its vastness,
[00:17:54] and people's eyes have wept from its tribulation. Indeed, the wounds have deepened
[00:17:58] in our hearts, and the calamity is like salt sprinkled on its blood. The high prices
[00:18:01] are global, we know that, and this may be commensurate with the income of citizens in other
[00:18:05] countries, but it is not commensurate with the income
[00:18:07] in Syria. Does the state have a plan to support
[00:18:11] the poor by providing winter fuel? And I will touch on some
[00:18:14] topics. The oncology hospital in Deir Ezzor resulted
[00:18:18] from a genuine necessity in Deir Ezzor,
[00:18:21] because most of the affected people are due to
[00:18:24] oil revenues, and this is specialized in the Ministry of Energy. It is known
[00:18:27] that 100 cases are recorded in Syria, 51
[00:18:31] of which are from Deir Ezzor. And I mentioned earlier that the Al-Jardhi area has
[00:18:35] a large number, and it is a small village in that governorate.
[00:18:38] The other matter is that the crude oil refineries in
[00:18:41] Deir Ezzor were stopped, and no job opportunities were provided
[00:18:45] for those who work there, despite the fact that they meet the needs of many
[00:18:48] families. The other important matter is that
[00:18:51] this eastern governorate consists of agricultural governorates,
[00:18:55] and electricity was cut off from agricultural cooperatives
[00:18:58] which led to the failure of the summer
[00:19:02] agricultural project. We hope
[00:19:05] for fuel support for citizens and attention to agriculture and water
[00:19:09] resources, and the existence
[00:19:13] the eastern region. May God reward you well.
[00:19:17] Colleague Ahmed Mahmoud Al-Khalaf
[00:19:19] Al-Shalash, In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Mr. President,
[00:19:23] Your Excellency, the Minister, honorable members of Parliament, peace and blessings of God
[00:19:26] be upon you. I will speak here in technical
[00:19:29] language, Your Excellency, about a problem that concerns Syria
[00:19:33] in general. As you know, the network
[00:19:37] of the electricity system, the backbone
[00:19:40] of this network, is the ring main units, and whatever the quality of
[00:19:43] these circuit breakers, SF6 or vacuum, according to the recommendations of international
[00:19:47] manufacturing companies, ABB or Siemens or Schneider.
[00:19:51] Their lifespan is 25
[00:19:53] years or 13,000 switching operations.
[00:19:57] If we assume that this system was installed in 2011,
[00:20:01] at the beginning of 2011, and we have four
[00:20:04] cases today,
[00:20:08] therefore, 1440
[00:20:11] replacements within this month. This means that within ten
[00:20:14] years, their lifespan ended. This
[00:20:18] is assuming they undergo the necessary periodic maintenance.
[00:20:22] What are your steps in this regard, and have
[00:20:25] surveys and field assessments been carried out, and have
[00:20:29] needs been identified, and budgets allocated
[00:20:31] for that? I move
[00:20:33] to
[00:20:35] another branch related to the energy sector.
[00:20:37] Regarding the city of Raqqa, unfortunately, Your Excellency, the
[00:20:41] Minister, and I am not speaking regionally here, but because these
[00:20:45] sectors are service-oriented and directly affect people's lives.
[00:20:48] Regarding the governance and institution building, the director of
[00:20:52] electricity is from outside the city of Raqqa. The director of
[00:20:55] electricity was dismissed, and he knows the poles,
[00:20:59] transformers, and connection units,
[00:21:02] and street lighting better than he knows his own children.
[00:21:06] The Directorate of
[00:21:07] ال
[00:21:11] Water Resources, Mr. Ahmed, if you please,
[00:21:15] I want you to look at
[00:21:17] I asked for one question. You
[00:21:20] entered with the third question now. Maybe your other
[00:21:23] colleagues will take it if I repeat the word.
[00:21:27] Doctor, please stop me if I repeat the word. Doctor,
[00:21:31] please. Four upcoming sessions, I will not raise my hand
[00:21:34] or intervene again, but let me intervene in this matter, please, Doctor.
[00:21:38] I mean, if each of them does that, then we won't get anywhere
[00:21:41] today or tomorrow. We asked for one question. We kindly ask
[00:21:45] our colleagues to abide by it. We will abide.
[00:21:48] from outside the city, and holds a veterinary
[00:21:53] medicine degree, despite the fact that the city is brimming
[00:21:56] with specialists.
[00:22:00] The director of the Euphrates Dam is from outside
[00:22:03] the city. I mean,
[00:22:06] what will you tell the people of Raqqa? What will you tell the
[00:22:10] regard? I move to
[00:22:13] the energy sector. We have
[00:22:17] two crises and on two levels. The first level is
[00:22:20] a resource crisis, and the second level is a resource management crisis. A resource
[00:22:23] management crisis.
[00:22:26] Otherwise,
[00:22:28] the oil sector
[00:22:32] would have started developing policies
[00:22:35] and scenarios for absorbing external shocks,
[00:22:38] instead of the SBC withdrawing
[00:22:41] and this shock directly falling
[00:22:45] on the Syrian people's heads. It was possible
[00:22:48] to implement policies
[00:22:51] that would alleviate this shock, including, for example,
[00:22:54] a storage policy. It was possible to buy
[00:22:58] what was needed when
[00:23:00] the price of oil was reasonable,
[00:23:03] and we are aware of what surrounds
[00:23:07] us, both in terms of country
[00:23:09] and regional conditions. So there is
[00:23:13] a problem in managing this sector,
[00:23:16] starting from production to the pipeline, as you mentioned.
[00:23:20] Your Excellency, and its cost and its damage to
[00:23:23] the oil pipelines,
[00:23:25] and the
[00:23:27] road networks. Also, regarding
[00:23:31] the Banyas refinery going out of service, is there
[00:23:34] no maintenance and operation team that gives recommendations
[00:23:38] and suggestions for the necessity of this
[00:23:40] maintenance? Was it not
[00:23:44] possible to provide
[00:23:46] a refinery, to provide a refinery before
[00:23:50] this refinery went out of service? And I will stop here.
[00:23:54] Okay, I'll stop. Okay. God bless you.
[00:24:00] Raqqa intervened. Thank you, Your Excellency, the Minister.
[00:24:03] I and the Secretary's colleague,
[00:24:06] I mean, because of the many questions, we agreed on one
[00:24:09] question per person. I ask colleagues to abide by that. Please, Your Excellency, the
[00:24:12] Minister, answer these questions, if you please.
[00:24:16] Thank you. The answer is indeed, Your Excellency, the Minister. God willing,
[00:24:20] we will start at the beginning. The answer is pending with
[00:24:23] the Parliament, we have endured. Yes.
[00:24:25] And
[00:24:31] regarding the issue of the protests
[00:24:35] that happened, we understand
[00:24:38] the hardship and poverty that drove people,
[00:24:41] and the difficulty of securing petroleum products for heating. And perhaps
[00:24:45] diesel is linked to many goods.
[00:24:49] I mean, the high prices of diesel are possibly linked to transportation, bread,
[00:24:52] and so on. But the option we chose was not
[00:24:56] a matter of preference or
[00:25:02] the ministry or the company to go with these prices. Reality forced
[00:25:06] us to. The company
[00:25:09] buy petroleum products. So we were faced with the choice of either
[00:25:12] securing these products
[00:25:15] at these prices, as I mentioned a while ago, 26 Syrian pounds per
[00:25:19] liter. Or
[00:25:22] we would enter into crises, fuel crises.
[00:25:25] And what we have is local production. And what we can import, we import.
[00:25:28] But queues will return, and we will have to use the smart card again. This
[00:25:32] is an option. And if the brothers in the People's Assembly
[00:25:36] agree to this option, then it is easier for us, whether in electricity or
[00:25:40] oil. I mean, today, these are the financial figures
[00:25:43] I have as the Ministry of Energy for electricity
[00:25:46] and oil, and this is my need. So if
[00:25:50] you agree that we give, for example, 50 liters of support
[00:25:54] to each family, as it was with the smart card,
[00:25:57] and then reopen the black market for petroleum products,
[00:26:00] and it just becomes two dollars or two and a half
[00:26:03] dollars, as it is in many countries now. We know
[00:26:06] that the individual's income cannot be compared to
[00:26:10] other countries to say that the prices of petroleum products
[00:26:13] consider this solution appropriate, write it down for us, send it to us, I am ready.
[00:26:17] They will immediately adopt it, that we return to the smart card, 50 liters,
[00:26:20] and then the black market, and
[00:26:23] this issue will not be resolved. Transportation
[00:26:27] costs will increase, and production costs will increase.
[00:26:30] Believe me, this is based on experience.
[00:26:34] The solution, excuse me, colleague Nour, excuse me, the solution is not
[00:26:37] to take this as a solution. We went towards reducing losses. We are not
[00:26:41] saying that the Syrian Petroleum Company is making a profit. You saw
[00:26:44] all the figures are supported. We reduce the losses of the Syrian Petroleum Company,
[00:26:48] and the Ministry of Finance will be patient with us for a while with the funds we need to pay them.
[00:26:51] for their projects. The alternative
[00:26:54] financial return, despite the fact that it's going back to square one, is the
[00:26:57] flares that are in the Eastern region, and I regret that many
[00:27:00] of them got cancer. The largest part of it is
[00:27:04] due to the flares that were there and the
[00:27:07] so I this issue, and not just because of the flares, but also due to the poor oil production.
[00:27:11] I said today, we stopped 30,000 barrels per day of production for the health
[00:27:15] of the people when the
[00:27:18] the lands and reaches the groundwater or pollutes the rivers
[00:27:22] or something else. It is our duty to close these wells so that they don't pollute, or when
[00:27:25] the radiation level is high coming out of the wells and accumulating
[00:27:29] in oil lakes, we don't allow it. I shut down these
[00:27:32] wells, rehabilitated them, and maintained them. Then we operate them again,
[00:27:36] and even if the company loses a certain amount of production, it is a loss
[00:27:39] for the company during that period. But the introduction
[00:27:42] of the new material, we have adjusted it first
[00:27:45] with flares that are somewhat electric, with a lower percentage of carbon
[00:27:49] emissions, under the supervision of the Syrian Oil Company.
[00:27:52] From the entry of the material to its exit, under our administration, the distribution issue will not
[00:27:56] become a black market, mixing, and so on. We will specify
[00:27:59] specific gas stations for the use of this material to monitor it and follow up to prevent fraud.
[00:28:05] talk implies that many weak-willed people
[00:28:08] the second material, or the second material with the third material, and sell it as
[00:28:12] if it is of this type and this kind. We will make every effort
[00:28:15] and mobilize all our cadres in the Department of Energy Services and the Syrian
[00:28:19] Oil Company to take daily samples from all stations because
[00:28:23] it is usually very easy to connect between the tanks and mix
[00:28:26] the two materials. It is not very difficult, so we will make every effort to
[00:28:30] prevent this fraud.
[00:28:32] And we didn't want to go with this solution. Why did we go to it?
[00:28:36] After we issued the tariff first, we were able to secure it.
[00:28:39] After that, we were open to looking for cheaper diesel with
[00:28:43] lower quality, and we were able to secure it after we issued the tariff, after we
[00:28:47] communicated with one of the sister countries and secured this material at a lower
[00:28:50] price. We were able to take 150 without profits and without
[00:28:54] losses at this price. And regarding
[00:28:57] the improved diesel, which will be for heating
[00:29:01] and other things, God willing, we will regulate it and try as much as possible to control fraud,
[00:29:04] mixing, and acts of transgression. Regarding the issue of
[00:29:08] workers in the flares, the day we stopped them, we took all their names and told them to come
[00:29:12] and work with us at the Syrian Oil Company, and this is a promise I made to them when I met
[00:29:15] with them, and we are still keeping our promise. But let's be realistic,
[00:29:19] also today, the salaries of the Syrian Oil Company, the Syrian
[00:29:23] Electricity Company, and the Ministry of Energy have you seen any qualitative increase for
[00:29:26] the Ministry of Energy? Nothing has changed qualitatively for the Ministry of Energy. We are still
[00:29:30] under the employees' law. I went to the Euphrates Dam, and the engineers there
[00:29:33] are still earning around $120
[00:29:36] almost. That is, their salary
[00:29:40] in Syrian lira is about 1.5 million and 1.7 million and so on.
[00:29:43] Engineers are there. Well,
[00:29:46] the old salaries. We are
[00:29:49] waiting for the new basic system for the oil company to be approved. Then it has the right to issue
[00:29:53] a new wage system that will be adopted, and the Syrian Electricity
[00:29:56] Company as well, and the Syrian Company. We made some expertise contracts, attracted
[00:30:00] some cadres and engineers, and made contracts for them. They have good salaries, but the majority
[00:30:04] of employees are like that. So many of the flare employees said, "Brother, I won't come to work for
[00:30:08] $100 or $120 or whatever." So he refused to
[00:30:11] enter the labor sector. We, as a centralized ministry, did many interviews
[00:30:15] in the competition. They said, "If the wages are like this, we cannot work." God
[00:30:19] willing, salaries will reach good levels like other ministries
[00:30:24] issue to the presidency, the Ministry of Finance, and the General
[00:30:27] Secretariat, and it is under study. The President directed
[00:30:30] to study the ministries, and the economy. The Ministry of Economy
[00:30:34] is still saying the same thing, that it is still under the law, not all ministries received the qualitative
[00:30:38] increases. They received the 550%, meaning that someone whose salary was $20
[00:30:41] became about $120. And this is true. My salary was $20-30,
[00:30:44] it became $150. As for
[00:30:47] the other issue,
[00:30:50] which is the infrastructure that Professor Ahmed mentioned. Of course, Professor Ahmed and I
[00:30:54] discussed it a little while ago, and he mentioned the same thing that I want to mention again. I told
[00:30:58] him, if you received it, if you want to mention it, mention it.