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.
00:00:00saying, company, would be waiting my station the cars place to at Taybeh had no and tankers company stations in unload, while and the other and Taybeh rural Damascus had no
00:00:16has been made,
00:00:18people. Today,
00:00:27at first, we
00:00:38liter of gasoline you put in
00:00:41your car cost you? If I were to
00:00:44ask this question on the street today,
00:00:47the answers would come like explosions of
00:00:50of responsibilities. anger
00:00:51come up with? towards everyone who sold people adulterated
00:00:55fuel for their
00:00:56given adulterated vehicles, turning them into piles
00:01:00of scrap
00:01:02material reached and junk due to red gasoline. And red gasoline, ladies
00:01:06and gentlemen, is a new
00:01:09arrival in fuel depots, disabling
00:01:12their operating and mechanical
00:01:16or to inventory and electrical systems and leaving their owners
00:01:20with loss and regret over
00:01:24is that its their life savings. The Ministry of Energy says
00:01:27results of the it will form an investigation committee to follow
00:01:31the chains of production, storage,
00:01:34and transportation, and all those involved
00:01:39Daraa. in the red gasoline tragedy. As for the Syrian Company for Storing and Distributing
00:01:42Petroleum Products,
00:01:44there. It's Satecop, it confirmed that
00:01:47the samples taken from various stages of the supply
00:01:50chain were compliant with standard
00:01:54specifications. Between the two investigations,
00:01:57there are facts on the ground that the public
00:02:00raises as
00:02:03mechanic, I questions: Who sold Syrians adulterated fuel? Who
00:02:06will compensate them? What is the source of the shipments,
00:02:09and how did they pass, and where were
00:02:11the regulatory
00:02:14and consumer protection authorities? When
00:02:18is corruption negligence, and when does
00:02:22at the station, it become a felony? Finally, what are
00:02:24the powers of the investigation committees? When
00:02:28will they submit their report
00:02:30to the public, and how will they deal with
00:02:33its results? The Ministries of Oil and Justice, these
00:02:37questions and many
00:02:58Directorate is episode to discuss
00:03:01no answer. So we, this the story of adulterated
00:03:03gasoline. So, welcome, esteemed viewers. The Minister
00:03:07of Energy, Mohammed Al-Bashir, ordered comprehensive
00:03:11field investigations into the adulterated
00:03:14gasoline that spread in the markets and
00:03:17caused damage to vehicles and their
00:03:20engines. The ministerial directive
00:03:23clarified that the investigations include
00:03:27it won't start reviewing the stages of gasoline import,
00:03:31testing, receiving, storage, transportation,
00:03:34and distribution, confirming that accountability
00:03:37will extend to
00:03:40everyone who tampered, neglected, or corrupted.
00:03:44We follow the report,
00:03:46We hope that
00:03:46you, and good and then we return to open the discussion
00:03:49on this topic. While you were driving
00:03:52your car, it suddenly stopped, so you went
00:03:56and good material. to the nearest answers to
00:03:58gasoline, and I maintenance center to find out that
00:04:01a malfunction affected the engine, and the
00:04:05reason was the gas station that sold
00:04:08you faulty fuel.
00:04:11diesel requests, according to him. The story began days ago when complaints
00:04:15discrepancy or started to rise
00:04:17He's complaining about a shortage about hundreds of this confirms cars' engines breaking
00:04:20can Baniyas the first time, down due to a batch of gasoline that did not
00:04:24meet specifications and was pumped into
00:04:28the markets. After that, questions from
00:04:32Syrian Oil Company. those affected began about the source
00:04:36and investigations. of the defect in a complete chain starting from supply
00:04:40and passing through
00:04:41honestly inspection, storage, damage that and distribution,
00:04:45ending with a citizen paying the price
00:04:48for a defect they had no part in.
00:04:52Gasoline of dark
00:04:55Okay, from red color and viscous. This
00:04:57is what people are
00:05:00talking about amidst demands to determine
00:05:03the nature of the
00:05:05was the cause substance and the
00:05:07or three-wheelers or reasons for its arrival at the
00:05:10stations. In light
00:05:13of these complaints, the Syrian Petroleum
00:05:16Products Company announced conducting extensive
00:05:19tests on samples from various stages
00:05:22of the supply chain and said
00:05:25that the tested samples were compliant
00:05:29with specifications. However, the Ministry
00:05:32of Energy opened a broader investigation
00:05:36path, as the Minister of Energy,
00:05:39Mohammed Al-Bashir, assigned his assistant
00:05:42for oil affairs to follow up on
00:05:46the issue in the field and review
00:05:49the stages of import, inspection,
00:05:52receipt, storage,
00:05:57transportation, and distribution, leading
00:06:00to the determination
00:06:02If the tested
00:06:09explained? A citizen asks, and is
00:06:21the defect related to a specific
00:06:25shipment, or a specific stage,
00:06:44questions, perhaps the most prominent
00:06:47of which is: Will the problem recur,
00:06:49or will it be the last?
00:06:53And who will bear the responsibility?
00:06:57For trust is not restored by
00:07:00promises, but by oversight that prevents
00:07:12So, the story of the red
00:07:15gasoline or adulterated gasoline, we put
00:07:19it on the table tonight
00:07:22and discuss member of the
00:07:26my esteemed guests. With us
00:07:30is Mr. Mohammed Salem Wahab, member of
00:07:33the Damascus Chamber of Commerce. Welcome.
00:07:37Mr. Khalid Jamal Al-Khalaf,
00:07:41People's Assembly,
00:07:44specifically member of the Energy
00:07:48Committee in the People's Assembly.
00:07:51Mr. Khalid, greetings to you,
00:07:55and welcome to our table.
00:07:57May God bless you. Also with
00:08:01us from Idlib is journalist
00:08:05Mohammed Al-Haj Kaddour. Greetings
00:08:08to you, Mohammed, and welcome to
00:08:12our table in this...
00:08:15From your side, you are also,
00:08:19as we learned, one of those
00:08:23affected by the adulterated gasoline
00:08:26or red gasoline. Your car
00:08:30broke down, as we heard.
00:08:33Let's understand more from you,
00:08:37Mohammed, what happened to you?
00:08:40Tell us about your experience.
00:08:44I mean, when did the car
00:08:48break down, how, and what exactly
00:08:51happened to you? Okay, all
00:08:55greetings to
00:08:58evening. First of all, before
00:09:01I was a journalist, I was a
00:09:05citizen affected by the gasoline
00:09:07or adulterated
00:09:11suffered, as thousands of citizens did,
00:09:14from the disruption of our work
00:09:18and the exorbitant maintenance costs.
00:09:22Of course, about ten days ago,
00:09:26or less, between a week and
00:09:29ten days, for
00:09:32I had a problem with
00:09:35my car. And honestly,
00:09:39I usually fill up at good
00:09:43gas stations because I believe that
00:09:46gasoline could not be adulterated
00:09:50or tampered with. And by God,
00:09:52we Syrians always have a conviction
00:09:56about a certain gas station or
00:10:00something, and we are used to
00:10:03filling up from there. So
00:10:07I was surprised that after a
00:10:10day or two,
00:10:20and of course we were working
00:10:24on a documentary with the Italians
00:10:27about Syria, then we broke
00:10:30down on the road, took the
00:10:34car to the mechanic, and were
00:10:37stuck for two or three
00:10:41days, and then the engine was
00:10:45removed, and he told us the
00:10:47reason was the gasoline. Honestly,
00:10:52said no, it can't be the
00:10:56gasoline, and maybe
00:10:59already faulty or something.
00:11:02But when we fixed it and
00:11:05refilled it with gasoline, and we
00:11:09started driving again, and then it
00:11:12stopped, the car broke down again,
00:11:16and we removed the engine again.
00:11:19I spent about $1500 on the
00:11:22car engine within a week. These
00:11:25are the exorbitant costs that disabled
00:11:29my work, which I consider very
00:11:32important, and during this period, it
00:11:36was not only beneficial for me
00:11:40personally, but also for the
00:11:43country, because it was a
00:11:47very important film, and a
00:11:51very large part of it was
00:11:55interrupted. So, of course,
00:11:58I went to the mechanic
00:12:01for the second time and asked
00:12:04him what the reason was,
00:12:08and he told me it was
00:12:12the gasoline, and then he showed me the
00:12:15color of the gasoline, how
00:12:19red it was, and he explained
00:12:22to me. Of course, this
00:12:28trust him, and he is very skilled.
00:12:31He used to work at car
00:12:35dealerships, and he told me that this gasoline
00:12:39is not properly
00:12:41refined, and this problem is not
00:12:44only yours, and he showed
00:12:48me about 30 cars waiting
00:12:52at his place. And he said
00:12:56that this gasoline, because it is
00:12:59not properly filtered or, let's say,
00:13:03well-refined, it still contains
00:13:06gummy substances. These substances
00:13:10lead to clogging the car's fuel
00:13:13injectors and stopping the valves. He
00:13:17showed me the internal parts of
00:13:20the car, how frozen they were
00:13:23due to this gasoline, and
00:13:26he told me that as long
00:13:30as you are driving, the car
00:13:34will work, but when you turn
00:13:38off the car and it cools
00:13:42down, these substances freeze
00:13:45and seize the internal parts of
00:13:48the engine, so
00:13:52again. And when I called
00:13:56my friends, many of them
00:14:00told me about the same cases
00:14:03happening to them, and yesterday
00:14:06I went to Saramda to get
00:14:09a car part, and I found
00:14:13that if you want to repair
00:14:16your car, you might have to
00:14:20wait a week or more, unless
00:14:23you have a mechanic friend
00:14:27or acquaintance. It's a very
00:14:31big problem due to the gasoline
00:14:34problem. Everyone is saying the
00:14:37same thing. Yes. And
00:14:41then we are surprised that,
00:14:44I mean, why did the Ministry
00:14:47of Energy or the Syrian Oil
00:14:51Company only act yesterday?
00:14:55Then they talk about committees
00:15:01And this
00:15:04occurred, I
00:15:06can only speak for myself,
00:15:10but my situation represents tens
00:15:13of thousands of citizens. I met
00:15:16people yesterday who had motorcycles,
00:15:20and you know, we have low
00:15:24income levels, and people are
00:15:28poor and depend on motorcycles
00:15:32whatever. All of this was
00:15:36disrupted. Well, all of it was
00:15:39disrupted because of this gasoline,
00:15:42because of the greed of some
00:15:46people, we don't know the reason.
00:15:49Until now, no announcement
00:15:54and citizens don't know what is
00:15:57happening or when this issue will
00:16:01be resolved. I mean, my car
00:16:05is now repaired, I imagine,
00:16:08and I am not going back
00:16:12in it. I don't know what
00:16:16will happen. Okay, Mr.
00:16:20Mohammed, people are being given
00:16:23adulterated gasoline. Why? Where
00:16:26is it coming from? Why
00:16:30are people being
00:16:34gasoline? First of all, the
00:16:46is the owner of an investment
00:16:50project. And this project,
00:16:53to succeed, depends on
00:17:08very expensive, and surely the
00:17:11car owner or driver or anyone
00:17:14who wants to fill up with gasoline will
00:17:18go and look for the station
00:17:22with the correct measurement and
00:17:25fill up from there. What does the citizen
00:17:29know if the measurement is correct
00:17:32at this station? Now, 100%
00:17:35it will be clear to him,
00:17:39and he will know. So
00:17:42now, from any car today, you
00:17:46have a mileage counter in it,
00:17:49and he knows what he has
00:17:53spent. So when he goes
00:17:56to fill up
00:17:59he knows if the station's measurement
00:18:02is correct or not. And
00:18:06you have the
00:18:10second part: the quality of
00:18:13the material. Now, the
00:18:21Services Directorate to follow up
00:18:25on the measurement at all stations
00:18:28in all Syrian governorates. The
00:18:32Energy Services
00:18:36responsible for monitoring the quality of
00:18:39the material when it arrives at
00:18:42the station and monitoring the
00:18:46measurement. Now, the Syrian Oil
00:18:49Company, SPC, is the one
00:18:52that supplies the material and
00:18:55delivers it to the stations
00:18:59through tankers from Baniyas
00:19:03refinery or Homs refinery and delivers
00:19:06it to the
00:19:10station. So, when this material
00:19:13is good, surely this
00:19:15second part that we are talking
00:19:19about, when the material is
00:19:23good, then this station project
00:19:27is based on these two things.
00:19:30It must have a correct measurement
00:19:34The correct measurement, most stations
00:19:37today rely on this story,
00:19:41because it is a reason for
00:19:45its success in this investment
00:19:48project. And second, the material,
00:19:52but he has no power
00:19:55over the material. Why? Because
00:19:59the sole source of the material
00:20:03in all of Syria is the SPC, the
00:20:15delivers it to the citizen.
00:20:19Okay, so now, as we
00:20:23heard, an investigation committee
00:20:26has been formed regarding what happened.
00:20:29Where should this committee
00:20:32start its investigation in your opinion?
00:20:35This committee
00:20:38starts from Baniyas refinery, which
00:20:43of the problem. Is it specifically
00:20:47Baniyas refinery? Now, we have
00:20:50Baniyas refinery and Homs refinery, for sure,
00:20:54but this material, when it first
00:20:57came out, which is the faulty
00:21:00material, was loaded into tankers
00:21:03from Baniyas and emptied
00:21:07into all the stations of Taybeh
00:21:11company in all governorates. So,
00:21:14this is the
00:21:18this issue is a reason
00:21:21and a measure taken by the officials. Of
00:21:26before I came to the interview
00:21:29with the head of
00:21:32is, what happened? Surely, yes,
00:21:35we are following it. Okay,
00:21:39what did you
00:21:41We are waiting for statements
00:21:45from the responsible authorities, from
00:21:48the regulatory authorities present.
00:21:51Brother, today, after
00:21:5415 years of revolution, and
00:21:58thank God, God blessed us with
00:22:01victory and liberation. I must
00:22:05deal with the opposing
00:22:08government entity, whatever
00:22:12it may be, a ministry,
00:22:15etc., with credibility. I
00:22:19must ensure that anything
00:22:22issued by them is
00:22:26truthful with me so
00:22:29that I can accept
00:22:32it. Why should I go
00:22:35out or even conduct an
00:22:39investigation behind their back?
00:22:42He is present here in
00:22:46this place as a good
00:22:48and revolutionary person, and
00:22:51the one who put him
00:22:55in this place also seeks
00:22:58for this country to
00:23:01be in the best possible
00:23:05state, to advance the
00:23:08wheel of production and
00:23:11improve
00:23:13the economy in Syria.
00:23:17From this place, allow
00:23:20me, if you please,
00:23:23without interruption. I demand
00:23:27President Ahmed Al-Shara to
00:23:30issue an urgent decision to
00:23:34dismiss Mr. Qablan from
00:23:37this position. He caused a
00:23:41lot of damage to the Syrian
00:23:44people, and to the
00:23:47vehicles, whether motorcycles or
00:23:51cars of Syrian citizens, and
00:23:55even at the government level.
00:23:58This is something no one can
00:24:01deny. His offensive statement
00:24:04to the Syrian people during
00:24:07the past period, and as one
00:24:11of the representatives
00:24:18did not accept his apology.
00:24:22Why insult me and then
00:24:26apologize? You apologize to a
00:24:29whole people, to the Syrian
00:24:32Oil Company.
00:24:36they reach them and
00:24:39that there are clear
00:24:44all these questions. I
00:24:47will return to you, Mr.
00:24:51Khalid. Mr. Mohammed,
00:24:54Mr. Khalid touched on
00:24:58a point where there might
00:25:01be some
00:25:05lack of clarity now. How
00:25:10refinery have maintenance going
00:25:14on, and yet, as you
00:25:18said earlier,
00:25:20this gasoline that reached
00:25:23the stations could have come
00:25:27from it? No, sir, this
00:25:31is confirmed. Why? Because
00:25:40were loaded from Baniyas.
00:25:45Baniyas. All the tankers
00:25:49that were loaded
00:25:52had maintenance work. Now,
00:25:55this issue the SPC
00:25:59knows. They might have brought
00:26:02it. What confirms to
00:26:06you that the invoices
00:26:10came out? All the
00:26:13tankers. We are talking about
00:26:17responsible
00:26:20you have an invoice
00:26:23with you. Now, I
00:26:26have the invoice from
00:26:30Homs with
00:26:40me. It delivered
00:26:43material to a station
00:26:46in Saidnaya. Okay. Because
00:26:50of this procedure that
00:26:53I told
00:27:00drivers to do, this
00:27:05the station, and the material arrived
00:27:09yesterday at one
00:27:13o'clock. There is no invoice
00:27:16that came out of
00:27:20Baniyas that you
00:27:24have. No, I don't
00:27:27have it now, but
00:27:31all the tankers are
00:27:34there. You have a
00:27:38station in
00:27:41There are six tankers
00:27:46at Taybeh station,
00:27:49and the Energy Services
00:27:53Directorate for monitoring
00:27:55and quality checked
00:27:58them and took samples
00:28:02from them. They have
00:28:05been standing for five
00:28:09days. They took samples
00:28:12from them, and these
00:28:16samples turned out to be
00:28:19As private stations, a book of conditions was issued,
00:28:23a book of conditions was issued almost six months ago. This book
00:28:26of conditions contains conditions that are meant for you
00:28:30to obtain a license
00:28:32to license a station. This book of conditions, the conditions
00:28:36in it are not feasible on the ground
00:28:40for the existing stations, and we appealed to the Ministry of Energy
00:28:44that this should exclude existing stations
00:28:47from six months ago until now. A study was submitted
00:28:51and they are supposed to approve this study and exclude
00:28:54the existing stations from these conditions,
00:28:58which are not feasible. Well, and until this moment, there has been
00:29:03issue that I just talked about, regarding you have
00:29:07a problem, if you notice, the crisis started
00:29:11about six months ago.
00:29:14After the liberation, there was no crisis. Why was there no crisis?
00:29:18Aleppo and the countryside of Aleppo and Hama and the countryside of Hama
00:29:21are now facing fuel crises that are much worse than
00:29:25the crisis that happened about six months ago, almost,
00:29:29which is exactly a crisis where there was no diesel or gasoline.
00:29:32Well, there is a shortage of material, meaning 100% shortage of material.
00:29:36From after the liberation, there were no crises. Aleppo and the countryside
00:29:39of Aleppo, and Idlib and the countryside of Idlib, and Hama and the countryside
00:29:43of Hama were being supplied by private companies
00:29:46through the crossings coming from Turkey. So
00:29:50this was relieving pressure on the Syrian Petroleum Company.
00:29:53Exactly. And now, after the liberation of the north,
00:29:56the burden increased. You know, before I came
00:30:00to you, and Professor Khaled knows this, one of
00:30:03the station owners spoke to me and said, "Deir ez-Zor
00:30:07received six requests." Um, two
00:30:10gasoline requests and four
00:30:14I don't know if
00:30:16what you're saying about a shortage.
00:30:19of material. Is there a shortage, Professor Khaled, at your place?
00:30:23Yes, yes, and there are queues at Sidcup and at
00:30:31the material. In addition to gasoline, diesel.
00:30:34Um, there is a shortage of diesel in Deir
00:30:45Muhammad? In Idlib, there is a big shortage
00:30:48of diesel. We can't fill up with gasoline, and there is no
00:30:51diesel. So life is stopped,
00:30:54and everyone here is asking, "Brother, where
00:30:58is the government? Let it explain to us what's happening."