Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00an interview with you, and he is a member of the People's
00:00:02Assembly who asks the minister to listen.
00:00:06Well, what then? He does not have the authority
00:00:09to interrogate or withdraw confidence or issue any decision
00:00:13that would hold him responsible. So, what does
00:00:16cost? And if the state is going to subsidize energy from the Syrian citizen benefit from listening
00:00:18to the Minister of Education and then the Minister of Oil
00:00:21as long as the parliament has been stripped of its most important
00:00:32deficit, what I said is very accurate. I'll give you
00:00:36Some people talked about this the numbers. Indeed, our oil balance before 2011 was not in deficit. Even
00:00:39in the nineties, oil production in Syria reached 650,000
00:00:42barrels. Even until 2011,
00:00:46the issue of confusion in the even until 2011, after
00:00:46as the stability of Syria today 2011, I have been working
00:00:49in the sector and I know it very well. Expert
00:00:51Professor, expert Professor, excuse me, he knows all these details very well.
00:00:55But after 2011, oil production began to decline.
00:00:59On December 8, 2024, the
00:01:02oil balance was in deficit. This is all I said, that it is an inherited system. This is
00:01:06are less than what the former regime used to announce. Yes, but was floating on a sea of no, the truth is, we used to
00:01:09import oil from Iran. In the last period, there was an oil balance deficit and even
00:01:12some of the derivatives. But in 2011, your words are 100% correct. The
00:01:16oil balance was not in deficit, and therefore its revenues were indeed a large
00:01:19to throw the consequences on part of the general budget. Well, the question that was asked directly is the
00:01:25detention and lost T4, teacher. These are the ones listening tool. The listening tool is a weakness in the People's Assembly, but the powers
00:01:27salaries now actually of the People's Assembly, according to the constitutional declaration, only granted the People's
00:01:30Assembly the right to listen. There is a philosophy behind
00:01:33this issue, that during the transitional phase, it might be
00:01:36better for the People's Assembly to only have the listening tool
00:01:41economic benefit for all this so that there is no obstruction of government work, and considering that the presidential system also
00:01:45did not allow the executive authority to dissolve the People's Assembly, there was a kind of
00:01:49exchange in powers. The listening tool itself, I believe that the
00:01:53vote of no confidence tool is indeed a strong tool,
00:01:57but the ability to use it, even in developed parliaments, is very
00:02:00weak, and when it is used extensively, it leads to justification. But this
00:02:05By increasing productivity. You should not listening tool, if managed effectively and used effectively,
00:02:09and not through precise questions that create pressure. But
00:02:12Dr., does this system you are talking about not turn listening
00:02:15sessions into meaningless sessions? This is what some ask. I
00:02:19believe that listening
00:02:20to us as a result of withdrawing liquidity from sessions create pressure on the government in front
00:02:23of public opinion, in front of the presidency,
00:02:25our other guests, what should in front of the people, in front of the People's Assembly. We rely on the media
00:02:29as pressure. I mean, we also, the media, there is no need for it to be present. The media is one of
00:02:33the authorities that exerts pressure on the executive authority and sometimes pushes it to change
00:02:37its decisions. The role of the People's Assembly has turned into the same role as
00:02:40the media. The listening
00:02:41And bring people back to tool is not... There are some points that resemble the role of the media through this
00:02:45pressure, but with a greater technical mechanism. However, I
00:02:48admit that the listening tool is not the strong
00:02:52tool that the People's Assembly possesses. But the constitutional declaration granted these powers to the People's
00:02:55Assembly. As members of parliament now, we are committed to the constitutional
00:02:58declaration, so we must use these tools in the best possible
00:03:22the decision should be looked at with both eyes.
00:03:25One eye is on production,
00:03:28says that in the consumption, support, and the difference between them, and the second
00:03:31as Mr. Musa says, a problem with important eye is the citizen's living situation. I said
00:03:33that we should not look at the fastest
00:03:37this issue, about the flaw in ways with a revenue collection
00:03:37as memoranda were signed and so on, we thank them for this mindset, and we should also look at the productive sectors. My brother,
00:03:41Muhammad, Syria is now in the process of emergence,
00:03:44in the process of preparing for industry
00:03:45the flaw, as the gentlemen pointed out and agriculture. Raising the price of oil derivatives
00:03:49and energy carriers in general first
00:03:52raises the price of the final product in the market for the consumer.
00:03:55Second, the producer
00:03:58The discussion is good, I mean, and honestly, this loses to the Syrian product imported from
00:04:01abroad. Third, and also important, it loses
00:04:04the ability to compete for the Syrian
00:04:07exported commodity. So, in short, if
00:04:10I were a decision-maker in Syria, I would not have
00:04:14raised energy prices because the strategic vision... What would
00:04:18you have done? What would you have done, Mr. Adnan? I would have looked for
00:04:21other resources for the treasury and subsidized oil
00:04:24with them. Why? Because from a strategic perspective
00:04:28and a profit and loss measure, the government
00:04:30is currently losing on the social level. People took to the streets.
00:04:34Syrians took to the streets. On the economic
00:04:37level, it lost its competitive ability
00:04:40and Syrian production. On the Syrian citizen level, it made them
00:04:44poorer and more in need, and they were the ones
00:04:47spoke today who struggled to live in prosperity and... Well, the idea is clear. Let me hear Dr. Mahmoud's
00:04:50opinion. Mr. Adnan is talking about a
00:04:53revenue collection mindset. Overall, do you think
00:04:57this is present
00:04:59They went for the easier solution. This is from your side? And we also talked about the options that were
00:05:02available to the government. Were there clear
00:05:06and possible options that the government
00:05:09could have resorted to amidst all this crisis?
00:05:13No, I want to stop at the point of searching for other resources for the treasury
00:05:17and subsidizing oil. Here, I want to add an important reservation:
00:05:21subsidies need an answer to a simple question: where will
00:05:24the money come from and how much will it
00:05:28the treasury, we also need to know the amount of the subsidy and the source
00:05:32of the revenue, meaning what
00:05:35will fund it. Because if we fund it with a deficit or
00:05:38with debt between state institutions, then
00:05:41we have not solved the problem, but rather transferred the bill
00:05:45from the citizen's pocket.
00:05:48option, that it's a matter of borrowing. Why don't we borrow to
00:05:52solve the crisis temporarily? You see this option as not
00:05:55sound? No, on the contrary, this is a very
00:05:58sound option. In light of what
00:06:02is happening now, you want to
00:06:05deliver all energy to all homes
00:06:09and in return consume all
00:06:13of the citizen's salary. Therefore, there is a very
00:06:15important point, Mr. Muhammad. Raising salaries is not
00:06:19the basis, and the discussion about raising
00:06:23salaries to coincide with increasing energy
00:06:26prices is not appropriate.
00:06:29Why? Because we must first look at
00:06:33salaries and compare them to the
00:06:36cost of living. That is, if
00:06:40only cover 20% of salaries,
00:06:59then the basket
00:07:01will increase. The cost of living basket
00:07:05will increase. Therefore, we must take into account how
00:07:08to have salary increases that are commensurate with
00:07:12the value of the food basket and the cost of living basket. How does that happen?
00:07:18only think about revenue collection. Revenue
00:07:21collection is also a method used to withdraw
00:07:24liquidity from the markets, and we have already
00:07:27had enough liquidity withdrawn from the markets. What happened
00:07:33the markets, I mean, the inflation that the country has reached is
00:07:36a result of the scarcity of liquidity that the central bank has held,
00:07:40and this is a wrong policy
00:07:55to finding solutions and not criticizing the Minister of Energy
00:07:58to solve the problem. Yes, everything that
00:08:02our colleagues discussed is very necessary, but in my
00:08:05opinion, I have a different
00:08:31people understand talk? I mean, we have
00:08:34positive steps that no one denies. The ministry
00:08:40first half of 2026,
00:09:06said that some of the basins,
00:09:10the basins, I mean, what happens is a primitive process that perhaps
00:09:13didn't even happen in the Stone Age, where they bring from the well
00:09:17and open a cement basin that they made. I received
00:09:20information, and so did the people in the fields, that they open
00:09:23the well to this oil basin and bring
00:09:26a motor, whether electric or otherwise, and fill
00:09:29the tank, my brother. Our oil
00:09:32is 50% and 60% water. I mean, the
00:09:36transported oil is indeed 10,000 barrels or
00:09:39102,000 barrels from the fields
00:09:42to the refinery, but 50% of it
00:09:46is water, and he himself said, or
00:09:49rather, Kablawi said, that we have two million barrels
00:09:53that cannot be exported due to the acids in them. There is a difference between the number and the
00:09:56liquid. I want to know
00:10:00how many barrels of oil he brought, because we know the infrastructure
00:10:03in the entire region is destroyed,
00:10:07not entirely destroyed.
00:10:11an easier, primitive solution, and I commented
00:10:15on it before. This is an easier
00:10:25in Aleppo to re-run the burners there. My brother,
00:10:29since the beginning of the crisis, and yesterday,
00:10:32I mean, the discussion is not
00:10:42yesterday, I took the initiative on portable
00:10:46refinery that produces 5,000 to
00:10:4910,000 barrels. It is available and manufactured in China, and we sold
00:10:53some of it in Africa and some in Russia.
00:10:55You see, and since the beginning of the crisis, I said, "My brother, fix the refineries
00:10:58and fix the pipelines." Look, Syrian production will not
00:11:01return to the way we dream of if we don't fix
00:11:05the pipelines. I counted them for you, we have four pipelines on the river
00:11:08crossing, and none of them has been fixed yet. This is transporting
00:11:12tankers. You want to transport 200, 300 thousand
00:11:15barrels, you need thousands of tankers and you need existing
00:11:18infrastructure. Well, the minister today talked about fixing the pipelines,
00:11:22Mr. Musa, what is this?
00:11:25My dear, even the Kirkuk pipeline, even the
00:11:28Kirkuk pipeline, which is already established, you have the
00:11:32Al-Omar and Tank coming from Al-Mayadeen and joining with T3, which is
00:11:36coming from Iraq, and you have a pipeline from Al-Jafra, east of Deir ez-Zor
00:11:40and west of Deir ez-Zor. These are also coming
00:11:44to join T3 and then to
00:11:47that caused very rapid closures due to the war, and these
00:11:50today have frozen
00:11:53oil and derivatives. I
00:12:07fixing the pipelines should have been the focus from the beginning,
00:12:11instead of focusing on filming in the fields and saying we
00:12:14produced and we didn't produce, and I was not convinced by this issue, and I stand by
00:12:18my words. I told you and I sent a plan at the beginning of the crisis
00:12:22for five to six years.
00:12:36that we need five to seven years, and I published this, and it's available on
00:12:39my posts since 2025, that the
00:12:55was to form a crisis cell and bring back the old experts who
00:12:59used to work in the fields without nepotism
00:13:01and without understanding what I mean by that.
00:13:06the fields. We had Syrian experts, the only ones historically, who
00:13:10used to produce oil without foreign
00:13:13expertise in the entire Middle East, and all these experts
00:13:17are available and all sitting at home. I would bring them and exempt them.
00:13:20Then, regarding investments, there's something I'll tell you we're doing today
00:13:24in Libya with Haftar. He has a siege with Nigeria. There's
00:13:28something called production sharing. My brother, come on. There are many
00:13:31companies you bring, they do service and intervention,
00:13:35they do matrix stimulation for you and restore everything, and
00:13:39today you have production. 20,000 barrels. You give them
00:13:42if it increases to more than 30,000 barrels, they take their share from the production
00:13:46sharing. And this was something very good. Why didn't we bring these
00:13:50companies and attract them? Excellent.
00:13:52Dr., Dr. Nawar, there is,
00:13:56management in general. Did you ask
00:13:59the minister today about
00:14:02management? And do you also see that there is indeed a flaw
00:14:05in management from your side? No, I believe, I believe that no,
00:14:10initially, is in the overall financial policy.
00:14:13The minister partially presented the issue of the structure. I am not familiar
00:14:17with the structure of companies, frankly, and I am not an expert in it.
00:14:23kind of discussion I was trying to open through my intervention in the People's Assembly.
00:14:27They gave me one minute to
00:14:51problem is that oil prices have risen. Now,
00:14:54the price in the market is much lower than the price
00:14:58it costs this material. The government resorted to the easiest
00:15:01solution, which is raising the price. Raising the price
00:15:04means inflation, simply put. They resorted to a second
00:15:07solution two days later, which is multiple prices. The minister
00:15:12about moving from a socialist
00:15:15system to diversifying prices. Is this not a temporary solution? Prices, this is the worst
00:15:19kind of solution. The worst kind of solution. Multiple prices is
00:15:22the graveyard of the economy. Why? Why? It has been tried
00:15:25before. It is a socialist solution that has been tried and failed. Multiple
00:15:29prices mean a black market. It means manipulating the specifications of the material.
00:15:32It also means manipulating the inflation process by
00:15:36buying at a high price. And in our case, it also means restarting
00:15:39the undeveloped refining,
00:15:42which leads to pollution. Therefore, multiple prices are
00:15:45a failed experience in all countries of the world. Okay, Mr. Adnan, let's hear his comment on this
00:15:49point. Is it true that multiple prices or their diversification in these
00:15:53categories is the graveyard of the economy, as Dr. Nouar says? I
00:15:57wrote about that, that the Ministry of Transport moved from one
00:16:00problem to several problems because it
00:16:03will open up a space for the black market.
00:16:07There will be multiple prices, there will be corruption, and so on. But Mr.
00:16:10Muhammad, let's say something. Now, the crisis of rising
00:16:14global energy prices and its impact on
00:16:17Syria is a current crisis, but we are facing
00:16:21successive crises and are expecting many crises
00:16:24as a result of, I will not say officials, and I will not say
00:16:27oil contracts, nor companies that take
00:16:30contracts without announcement, and I will not delve into those important
00:16:34labyrinths that I hope will have separate episodes.
00:16:38We are facing a Syrian reality where the resources
00:16:41of the public treasury
00:16:44the expenditure.
00:16:47Current or investment expenditure. So, the official
00:16:50is called an official to find solutions to this
00:16:54crisis and not
00:16:56the consumer and take or restore the budget deficit from
00:17:11we look into resources, Mr. Muhammad, we need
00:17:15the government's honesty in dealing with the Syrian citizen, and the Syrian
00:17:18citizen is loyal and will stand by the government. Are you referring to
00:17:22transparency here, Mr. Adnan? Absolutely. Honesty
00:17:24and transparency. Number two, has today's session partially solved
00:17:28the problem of transparency? Mr.
00:17:30Muhammad, I told you that today's session was justificatory. I mean, you
00:17:34ask and I answer. The second important point, I will speak
00:17:37briefly due to time, is to define the identity of
00:17:41Syria's economy. We are still living in a state of
00:17:44structural confusion, if I may say so, in the Syrian
00:17:48economy. We moved from a socialist transformation economy or
00:17:51a central economy to a market economy, as announced
00:17:55by the President and other officials, but the
00:17:58transition was sudden. They did not specify
00:18:01the type of market economy. Is it a liberal
00:18:04market economy or a social market economy? Also,
00:18:17that the public resources of the state in Syria come from
00:18:20the oil sector, from the surpluses of economic institutions,
00:18:24and from taxes and fees. If we look at
00:18:27these three, Dr. Nawar believes that we must
00:18:37three resources, we see that they are in decline,
00:18:40rather, they are financed with a deficit. So what is the solution?
00:18:43The first solution is to, as I said,
00:18:47based on the principle of disclosure and transparency, announce
00:18:51the confiscations that the new authority
00:18:54confiscated from the former Assad regime and
00:18:57put them up for sale in public auctions. Number one.
00:19:00Number two, to implement general government austerity.
00:19:04I mean, major countries that are suffering from the oil crisis now,
00:19:08like Turkey, have announced austerity, but they have not
00:19:12shifted the burden to the consumer, but rather provided many
00:19:15support methods. And also, regarding the energy sector, there are many
00:19:19solutions, including alternative energy.
00:19:35as the professor said, I mean, I'll tell you something.
00:19:38Based on my work in the region and elsewhere,
00:19:40Syria has an economic diversification
00:19:44that is better than all Gulf countries. Today, the Gulf countries,
00:19:47due to oil, are almost all paralyzed.
00:19:51I know and am fully aware that before
00:19:53the revolution, our economy was based on four
00:19:57or five pillars, all parallel. I remember
00:20:00that agriculture accounted for 2.5
00:20:03ممكن نحن كانت الزراعه بشكل 2.5
00:20:07billion of the annual budget, and our industry
00:20:11generated approximately 3 billion from the industrial
00:20:15budget, and tourism generated approximately 2.0
00:20:18billion, and transit and taxes,
00:20:21and transit and taxes accounted for 2.5%, in addition
00:20:24to oil, which accounted for 3%. This economic
00:20:27diversification, which they call revenue diversity in the world, is not available
00:20:31in most countries of the world. Therefore, today we are focusing on a point that may be the weakest
00:20:34link, which is oil. But oil, I tell you, we are
00:20:38not an oil country, and we do not
00:20:41export oil. In ten years, we will be importers. Why don't
00:20:44we focus on the other sectors,
00:20:47in addition to finding sustainable solutions
00:20:50and gradually addressing the issue of the oil sector, so that at least we can be self-sufficient
00:20:54domestically?
00:20:58No plan has been submitted, even the plan for 2026 is available there.
00:21:01Nor have we submitted the strategy for four or five years. Okay,
00:21:05fine. He doesn't have a technical team that can do that. We were ready,
00:21:08and many people sat down with us and worked on a strategy to solve
00:21:12this issue, but the focus remains on the issue of
00:21:17the brothers said from the beginning, why should he be the one to start
00:21:20raising prices? This is an economic issue, and the Minister of Finance
00:21:24or the Minister of Economy should go and raise prices
00:21:31economic, as you see. Mr. Adnan was talking about
00:21:36economy and the lack of a clear model for the economy's
00:21:39identity. Excuse me, I just want to comment on
00:21:43the point made by the kind guest who said that
00:21:46it is effectively a non-oil country,
00:21:50because people were led to believe that Syria
00:21:55oil, and this was a very big mistake.
00:21:59And I mean, this phrase was repeated
00:22:02more than once, and
00:22:05for example, the topic of the four
00:22:08seas plus one and so
00:22:11on was completely ignored.
00:22:14I mean, there is an exaggeration of 80 or
00:22:1885%, and an illusion is being sold,
00:22:21you mean. Yes, 80%
00:22:24of the oil that leaves Hormuz goes to Asia.
00:22:28So there is no
00:22:31oil to pass from the Gulf to Syria and then to the Mediterranean
00:22:35Sea and then exit
00:22:48and the tools for managing the transitional phase is important
00:22:52because the existence of government intervention or support for some sectors does not automatically mean
00:22:55that we are facing a socialist economy or that price liberalization alone
00:22:59makes the economy a true market economy. The government
00:23:03announced a move towards a market economy and the private sector,
00:23:07and I personally don't see it as the main problem that you choose
00:23:10a name and say liberal or social market. The citizen and the
00:23:13investor need to know the rules of
00:23:16the game. In any case, the discussion is long.
00:23:24In short, our problem is that we have a deficit in the oil
00:23:28balance. The government resorted to the easiest solution, which is raising prices. It resorted to
00:23:31a solution that is not a solution, which is multiple prices. The solution is to provide support
00:23:35for oil derivatives through, first, reducing spending and reducing
00:23:38extravagant spending fundamentally. The second point is increasing
00:23:42production and securing progressive tax revenues on the wealthy classes
00:23:45to provide support for sectors like oil, food, health, and education,
00:23:49and thus maintain the fair distribution of national income because
00:23:52in the end, just a quick word, if you please, because if
00:23:55government intervention is necessary
00:24:06countries around the world that have a deficit in their oil balance. The only
00:24:10countries that do not have a deficit in their oil balance are the countries that
00:24:14produce oil. So it's natural for Syria to have a deficit in its oil
00:24:17balance. I mean, it's not like it's something
00:24:26Just to broaden the scope of the vision,
00:24:29let's ask, when was the last time the government met in
00:24:33Syria, and how was such an important decision
00:24:36made, which has numerous economic repercussions,
00:24:39without a government meeting? And I ask a question. The President,
00:24:43Ahmed Al-Sharq, said from Dubai that the current GDP is
00:24:4634 billion and will reach 50
00:24:50billion in 2026. So, on what basis was this figure communicated
00:24:54to the President if Syria does not have plans?
00:24:58Mr. Muhammad, Syria needs competent people
00:25:01in decision-making positions. It needs planning, implementation,
00:25:05and setting timelines for implementation so that this
00:25:08government can be held accountable for the plans it sets, and not
00:25:12for decisions to be arbitrary and chaotic,
00:26:41to restore hope not only for Syrians, but for the entire
00:26:44region,
00:26:49does not only serve Syria, but also serves the entire region, and it is a common interest
00:26:52for all. Syria now, as I mentioned to
00:26:56you, had great opportunities, and many seized them, especially
00:27:00Gulf countries, so investments began to flow into
00:27:03Syria successively. Our people in the Emirates
00:27:07are opportunists, so accordingly, Dubai
00:27:11Ports invested in the port of
00:27:13Tartus.
00:28:08After the completion of the first phase of the practical
00:28:11application of Presidential Decree No. 13 regarding
00:28:14the naturalization of Kurdish citizens residing in the territory.
00:28:17Syrian
00:28:20Today our committees continue to
00:28:23interview citizens accepted during the first
00:28:26stage.
00:30:22file:
00:30:25Real estate development and industrial
00:30:28and tourism facilities in Aleppo. Projects discussed by President
00:30:32Ahmed Shara with a number of ministers
00:30:35and officials.
00:30:40And in our second file for tonight, we talk about the hearing
00:30:43held by the People's Assembly for the Minister
00:30:47of Energy after the ministry's decision to adjust fuel
00:30:50prices and provide it.
00:30:51And in
00:30:56Deir ez-Zor, the launch of the "Bridges of Recovery" medical campaign.