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.
00:00:14session that may not
00:00:26will significantly reduce
00:00:27and sold at
00:00:27theft and encroachment on
00:00:33Welcome to this news bulletin, which we start
00:00:36with the headlines.
00:00:39and objections in the Syrian street The People's Assembly holds a session today to hear from the Minister of Energy regarding the increase
00:00:42in fuel prices last
00:00:44week.
00:00:47Dismantling a network involved in drug trafficking and promotion in Homs
00:00:51and arresting nine of
00:00:53its members.
00:00:55Israeli occupation forces bomb with several shells the forest of
00:00:59Bir Ajam, west of the village of Zubayda in the Quneitra countryside,
00:01:05there are observations on and the Directorate of Health in Deir Ezzor inaugurates the Cardiac
00:01:08Catheterization Department in the governorate and performs the first
00:01:11successful operation.
00:01:21the justifications and circumstances that accompanied this
00:01:28you. In with the excellent
00:01:31Details: The People's Assembly will hold a hearing today for Minister of Energy
00:01:35Muhammad al-Bashir to discuss
00:01:38the reality of the energy sector and the reasons for raising
00:01:41fuel prices and the repercussions of the decision on citizens and productive
00:01:45sectors. The session is scheduled to address
00:01:48oil, electricity, and water issues after their prices increased
00:01:52plan in this and the ministry was given additional time to complete
00:01:56the required data and files.
00:01:58The session was scheduled for last Thursday
00:02:02before the council postponed it until today at the request
00:02:05of the Ministry of Energy. Its convening comes after
00:02:09protests witnessed in various regions of Syria following
00:02:12the increase
00:02:13in fuel prices.
00:02:17After the increase in fuel prices last week, the Syrian street
00:02:21in several governorates witnessed a wave of protests rejecting
00:02:24the decision, followed by a press conference
00:02:27to public by Al-Bashir, in which he spoke about three prices for fuel
00:02:30according to the nature of use. The course of these
00:02:33events is in this
00:02:35there no presentation with Bilal Al-Bizri.
00:02:39Raising fuel prices was not a trivial decision
00:02:42to solve this for a wide segment of the establishment of a refinery Syrians, as
00:02:45protests rejecting the decision quickly spread
00:02:49in a number of governorates.
00:02:51bills
00:02:52to rationalize and austerity in These protests were the largest of their kind, involving the burning of tires and blocking vital
00:02:56roads. The decision issued by the committee
00:03:00for determining the prices of petroleum materials and mineral wealth
00:03:02included raising the prices of petroleum products
00:03:05by percentages that reached up to
00:03:0840%. This committee has issued several decisions
00:03:12since its formation in June that stipulated
00:03:15adjusting fuel prices. The Ministry of Energy attributed
00:03:19the latest increase to the rise in the costs of securing
00:03:22petroleum products globally, coinciding with
00:03:26the maintenance of the Baniyas
00:03:28the executive authority must cooperate refinery and the import of about two-thirds of Syria's needs
00:03:31for petroleum products, while it can only produce
00:03:34one-third. However, these clarifications did not
00:03:38to address this seem to alleviate the severity and dissatisfaction of the
00:03:41public. With the escalating popular
00:03:44protests
00:03:47in regulation and monitoring. From this against the decision, the People's Assembly called on the Minister of Energy, Mohammed Al-Bashir, for
00:03:51a session to clarify the Ministry's reasons
00:03:55sector in generating alternative energy increases or decreases in for the price increase and the considerations that accompanied its issuance,
00:03:58amidst popular
00:04:00committee or from the council, demands to reverse the decision and alleviate living burdens.
00:04:06in supplies or halt in to face any sudden shortage From the People's Assembly in Damascus, our Syrian TV correspondent Hazem Awad
00:04:08price, especially in joins me. Welcome, Hazem. How
00:04:13go to are the vibes at the People's Assembly today before the start of the hearing
00:04:23started yet. It is expected to begin in the coming
00:04:26minutes. This session is
00:04:29required of the dedicated to hearing what the Ministry of Energy may find to be a convincing
00:04:33briefing to the members of the Council and the Syrian people
00:04:36regarding the recent increase in energy prices.
00:04:40The Syrian public is perhaps waiting today for a measure that will
00:04:43not happen. Some people in the Syrian
00:04:46street believe that
00:04:50why does the government this hearing session may be more like an accountability or
00:04:53interrogation session, but it is just a hearing session.
00:04:58and the reflection of their pricing on According to Article 30, as stipulated in the temporary
00:05:02the daily consumption rate of constitution, there will be a constitutional declaration
00:05:05that the People's Assembly has authority
00:05:08over the executive authority only regarding listening to
00:05:12the justifications, determinants, and circumstances of some decisions that have been issued, and
00:05:16the People's Assembly does not have the right to withhold confidence or to interrogate,
00:05:19or even to dismiss a minister or a government.
00:05:22Therefore, today is a hearing
00:05:26differ from what the Minister of Energy presented last
00:05:29Thursday. Everyone knows that the hearing session
00:05:33was supposed to be held last Thursday, even though some people in the Syrian
00:05:37street objected to the postponement of the session. The decision was issued
00:05:40at the beginning of the week and a hearing session was announced at the end of the week,
00:05:44but the Minister of Energy also requested a postponement until Sunday, and a full
00:05:48week of protests
00:05:51against this decision passed. However, the Minister of Energy on
00:05:55Wednesday met with President Ahmed
00:05:58Al-Sharaa in the evening and emerged
00:06:02on Thursday at the same time he was supposed to emerge
00:06:05under the parliament's dome and requested clarification. He held
00:06:09a press conference and gave justifications for what is happening
00:06:13and for what caused the increase in
00:06:16prices or the motives that stood behind the increase in fuel prices
00:06:19and offered a solution that has not yet
00:06:23been implemented on the ground and is a partial
00:06:26solution only for diesel, which was divided into three
00:06:29categories, and he presented
00:06:33announcement, and there was no reversal of the prices
00:06:37that were recently set. Today,
00:06:40the Syrians are waiting to see what he will present
00:06:42under the parliament's dome, what questions
00:06:46the members of the People's Assembly will raise, and what the outcome of
00:06:49the hearing session will be. Usually, hearing sessions do not result
00:06:52in binding decisions for the executive
00:06:55authority because they are merely hearings. They may result in some
00:06:59non-binding recommendations for the Ministry of Energy.
00:07:02During the past week, there was a hearing session for the Minister of Education.
00:07:05We did not see any special measures
00:07:09regarding yes, Hazem.
00:07:13I will go directly to the People's Assembly
00:07:16to follow the hearing session
00:07:19for the Minister of Energy, Mohammad
00:07:27Committee will present what it has, as chairman
00:07:31and members. After that,
00:07:34we will hear the response of His Excellency the Minister of Energy
00:07:37on this matter. Mr. Muayyad will begin by reading
00:07:41the names of those who will speak from the Energy
00:08:02has become a national and societal security
00:08:06par excellence. Not just numbers or supply
00:08:09chains, but it is the backbone of the economy, its
00:08:13foundation, and part of the identity of states and their sovereignty.
00:08:16Our eyes are on the state that emerged from the womb of revolution
00:08:19and sacrifices, and our other eye is on our bereaved
00:08:23and tired people who have suffered much,
00:08:26and they deserve all our work, diligence, and sacrifice
00:08:29to raise their standard of living and ensure a decent
00:08:32life worthy of them and their revolution.
00:08:35Today, we face a great challenge and a difficult
00:08:39reality, and we are aware of its consequences and implications. But with the awareness
00:08:42of our people, their patience, and your
00:08:45determination, we will overcome these difficulties, God willing. Most
00:08:48of the axes and interventions will be about
00:08:51crude oil, its refining and extraction
00:08:55and its governance and distribution.
00:08:57We will also talk about natural gas and its processing, and about
00:09:01electricity, its reality, and development plans.
00:09:04There will also be several interventions and axes
00:09:07for renewable energy and its localization, dams,
00:09:10wind, and water.
00:09:13Therefore, I hope, Your Excellency the Minister, that you will be patient
00:09:17with the fellow deputies in this session, and that the language
00:09:20of numbers and the percentage of actual achievement will be the master
00:09:24of the situation, for my fellow deputies represent the pulse
00:09:28of the street and the nation, and its hopes. We work
00:09:31together as legislative and executive authorities to reach
00:09:35the highest levels of giving and achievement to serve the nation
00:10:02transparent and clear figures on domestic production,
00:10:05in terms of the number of wells, the number of
00:10:09fields, and the number of barrels produced daily, along with
00:10:14oil, gas,
00:10:16and electricity.
00:10:19We also question the contradictory statements.
00:10:22The truth is, every now and then, we see a statement
00:10:26that looks like a question mark around the statements.
00:10:30What is
00:10:32the actual cost per liter of gasoline,
00:10:35diesel, and a gas cylinder?
00:10:39We also want the disclosure of purchase contracts for petroleum products.
00:10:43Are they made through tenders
00:10:46and bids, or are they subject
00:10:50to competition or monopoly, or are there other
00:10:52criteria? We have developed a phobia
00:10:56of the phenomenon of Katirji
00:10:59and Hamasho. We
00:11:01cannot repeat that phenomenon here. I do not
00:11:05know.
00:11:09What are the justifications
00:11:12and circumstances of the sudden price increase?
00:11:15It was
00:11:17as if
00:11:19something was planned overnight. We wake up in the morning and find
00:11:23that prices have skyrocketed.
00:11:28His Excellency the Minister proposed the three
00:11:31types.
00:11:34Here we also enter into a crisis, which is
00:11:38the crisis of corruption.
00:11:41Surely, gas stations
00:11:44might mix the bad type
00:11:49regular type,
00:11:51meaning.
00:11:57What is the equation and criteria adopted by the committee
00:12:01for determining petroleum product prices?
00:12:04What are the criteria? What is
00:12:07the equation?
00:12:12Also, the Euphrates Dam has
00:12:16four pumps or four
00:12:19turbines that are only working, and the other four
00:12:23are out of order.
00:12:28The pumping station in Maskana, east of
00:12:31Al-Yabaniyeh, has six engines, only two
00:12:34of which are working, and four are out of order.
00:12:36The rehabilitation
00:12:39of irrigation networks in Maskana, east of a huge
00:12:43project, irrigates
00:12:4617,700
00:12:48hectares. The infrastructure
00:12:52of the networks
00:12:55is fast, but no one is listening.
00:12:58تنادي
00:13:03The Rasafa conversion station, this is my area. I am talking about
00:13:05my area. It is also out of order,
00:13:09and because of it, 120
00:13:12wells
00:13:15are only 10 working on diesel. Only 110 are stopped.
00:13:19110 wells.
00:13:22The reason is that the electricity conversion station is out of order.
00:13:29I repeat once again, 110
00:13:32are out of order and only 10 are working.
00:13:34The reason is the Rasafa conversion
00:13:38station. The power station
00:13:40is out of order. So 110
00:13:43wells are out of order, and only 10 are working. The ones working are on
00:13:46separate diesel
00:13:48engines.
00:13:51This station also supplies
00:13:55Al-Safi, Al-Mamlahah, and Al-Wahab. All of them are
00:13:58stations. When
00:14:00will
00:14:39to postpone the Umrah procedures and the periodic maintenance of the two
00:14:42Baniyas refineries to avoid the direct repercussions on prices
00:14:46and the derivatives market? What are the real reasons
00:14:49behind delaying the implementation of this step? We also request
00:14:53to be briefed on the general technical information of the facility, and whether
00:14:57the completion of maintenance work guarantees a return to full
00:15:00readiness with an estimated production capacity of
00:15:03135,000 barrels per day, with
00:15:07stability and sustainability of production
00:15:08quantities.
00:15:12After the recent decisions,
00:15:15not adopt a general and declared policy to subsidize
00:15:18fuel and electricity targeting the most needy
00:15:22classes as a transitional measure when living
00:15:25standards and purchasing power
00:15:28of citizens improve?
00:15:34In the framework of transparency, we request
00:15:37to be provided with details of the work of
00:15:40the committee that sets the prices of petroleum products. What is this
00:15:43committee composed of? What is the mechanism and periodicity
00:15:47of its meetings, and how are decisions made and the mechanisms
00:15:50for calculating costs in it?
00:15:53Is there a plan for instant digital
00:15:56linking and control of gasoline and diesel quantities
00:16:00and how to calculate the rise and fall
00:16:02and the quantities supplied
00:16:05stations
00:16:07to reduce congestion and control markets when prices
00:16:11change? And what are the adopted
00:16:14criteria for distributing quantities, and is
00:16:17there any preference for some stations over others,
00:16:43the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC)
00:16:46regarding the contracts concluded with local service
00:16:50companies for the maintenance of wells, pipelines,
00:16:53and sites. What is the contracting
00:16:56mechanism? What is the legal reference?
00:16:59Is it true that the contracts were concluded by mutual
00:17:03agreement or direct contracting,
00:17:06which violates Syrian Contracts Law No. 51
00:17:10of 2004?
00:17:14How many years do we need to become
00:17:17self-sufficient in oil, gas,
00:17:20and electricity and start
00:17:22exporting? In this context, please
00:17:26provide us with the broad outlines of the ministry's
00:17:30area to advance the energy
00:17:33sector.
00:17:36Your Excellency, the Minister, Syrian oil has been transported from the far east to the far
00:17:40west, to the Homs and Baniyas refineries,
00:17:43and vice versa, transporting petroleum products to
00:17:46the eastern regions. This has many effects and drawbacks,
00:17:50the biggest of which is the loading of
00:17:53transportation costs onto the prices of petroleum
00:17:56products,
00:17:59in addition to the damage that these heavy
00:18:02vehicles cause
00:18:04roads. It causes traffic
00:18:08jams and danger. Why is
00:18:12rush to accelerate
00:18:16in the eastern region
00:18:20matter?
00:18:22Mr. President, Your Excellency, the Minister, we ask you to issue a circular
00:18:25to address ministries and obligate them
00:18:30civil and military sectors, and cancel
00:18:33open personal cards
00:18:36for fuel. And follow a strict
00:18:39monitoring mechanism. Thank
00:19:08In the framework of our oversight responsibility, I would like to ask the following questions:
00:19:12First, from your position
00:19:14and your reading of the market and your assessment of the current economic conditions, what
00:19:18is the specific timeframe for the continuation of the recent increase in petroleum
00:19:21product prices? And does the Ministry, in light of the protests
00:19:25regarding the price increase decision, have new and clear criteria and controls
00:19:29upon which any future
00:19:32prices will be based? Second, energy security and strategic
00:19:36reserves. What is the strategic plan and emergency
00:19:39plans adopted by the Ministry
00:19:44production? What is the current strategic reserve of
00:19:47petroleum products, and how much time
00:19:50can it cover the country's needs in case of supply
00:19:53disruption?
00:19:56Third, benefiting from Iraqi oil. To what extent
00:20:00is it possible to achieve maximum economic and strategic
00:20:03benefit for Syria from transporting Iraqi oil through our
00:20:06territory, whether through transit, refining, storage,
00:20:10or export through Syrian ports? And
00:20:14are there actual discussions with the Iraqi side in this regard? Fourth
00:20:18and finally, the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline. Does
00:20:21the Ministry have a plan and a working proposal for rehabilitating and operating
00:20:25the Iraqi-Syrian Kirkuk-Baniyas oil pipeline? And has a technical
00:20:28and economic study been conducted to determine the cost of rehabilitation,
00:20:32the time required for implementation, the expected operating capacity,
00:20:36and the returns it can achieve?
00:20:38We hope that the answers will be specific with numbers
00:20:42and timeframes, because the energy file directly affects
00:20:45the economic and living security
00:21:08regarding cases of covering up corruption and manifestations of extravagance,
00:21:11waste, and squandering of public funds. The question is, we want
00:21:15a complete database about SPC, its establishment,
00:21:18its structure, its rights, and its powers, and we request a clarification
00:21:22session with the head of the Syrian Oil Company in the presence of the Energy
00:21:25Committee.
00:21:27Is there a plan to link oil and gas fields with high-efficiency
00:21:31and reliable meters that are connected
00:21:33from the fields to shipping, refineries, and ports,
00:21:37and to accurately control figures at the state level and prevent
00:21:40corruption and manipulation?
00:21:43Your Excellency, the Minister, several companies have entered into
00:21:47joint ventures in oil fields, such as HKN and Novatec.
00:21:51What is the progress in terms of completion rates, and what
00:21:54is the partnership mechanism in general, with the provision of the names
00:21:57of the fields and their specific
00:22:00contracts? The last question: are all
00:22:04oil and gas fields under the absolute control of the Syrian
00:22:27that there be a database with accurate
00:22:30statistics and tools to measure the success of the experience of pumping various
00:22:34types of diesel into the market and studying the economic
00:22:37feasibility, fair distribution,
00:22:40and delivery to those
00:22:43who deserve it. Second, why are there no
00:22:47medium-sized oil refineries
00:22:50that are spread near oil fields
00:22:53and whose derivatives are allocated to the same
00:22:57governorates that have the fields to save
00:23:00shipping costs, employ their people, monitor,
00:23:03and reduce reliance on Baniyas and Homs refineries at
00:23:07the national level? Third, we request
00:23:10the creation of a future fund whose purpose
00:23:13is to intervene in cases of price increases
00:23:16beyond a certain threshold
00:23:18and to intervene to return prices to this threshold.
00:23:22Fourth, what is the estimated
00:23:25percentage from your point of view
00:23:28of waste in the energy sector, whether governmental in terms of
00:23:32convoys, events,
00:23:35and displays, or from the citizen's
00:23:38side in terms of not paying
00:24:05the defunct gang left a heavy legacy and caused
00:24:09a huge amount of problems that no government
00:24:12could handle. To dismantle and solve these problems,
00:24:18with various social and economic activities
00:24:21and involve them to alleviate the burden. From this perspective,
00:24:25I see the involvement of national economic activities in the energy
00:24:29sector, from production to transportation and distribution, with appropriate
00:24:32incentives and sufficiency
00:24:37perspective,
00:24:41I see the involvement of the private
00:24:45in the short and medium
00:24:48term. And the question is, what are the incentives
00:24:50for those who produce energy, offered by the Ministry of Energy to those
00:24:54who generate energy from solar energy a suitable
00:24:58industrial
00:24:59areas?
00:25:03Public opinion is always engaged in a wide debate
00:25:07about the contracts concluded between the Ministry of Energy and some
00:25:10entities. I will give an example: Urbacon company. There are suspicions
00:25:14and observations about the extent of the obligations
00:25:19company, and about the legal basis on which
00:25:22contracts are concluded with these
00:25:25companies. Please provide
00:25:29the council with a full copy of this contract and other
00:25:32contracts.
00:25:36And the question that arises is, why are electricity
00:25:40and energy investments confined to the state or
00:25:44confidential? We are surprised by a contract here and an understanding
00:25:48there with
00:25:50various entities, with the possibility that
00:25:54if the contract were offered to another entity, the results
00:25:57would perhaps be better.
00:26:01And I also have questions: what
00:26:04is the situation and the completion rate of maintenance of
00:26:07thermal and hydroelectric power plants? And what
00:26:11is the expected time to reach maximum
00:26:14production capacity? What is the government's plan to install
00:26:18smart meters for electricity and water,
00:26:21and when will they be completed? We know
00:26:24that installing these meters
00:26:30the network.
00:26:33And I conclude by asking: what is the impact of the rising
00:26:37cost of fuel and gas on electricity prices
00:26:40in the future? We request through
00:26:44the Energy Committee, and this is the opinion of a large
00:26:48number of colleagues, to support
00:26:48the first
00:26:52category with more than 300 kilowatts
00:26:55or reduce it by half, or create a medium category,
00:26:58meaning there should be three
00:27:01categories: a first category for low-income
00:27:04and poor people,
00:27:07a second category for middle-income people, and a third
00:27:10category for the rest
00:27:30fact, I have four questions that I would like to direct to
00:27:34His Excellency the Minister. The first question: We would like
00:27:38detailed information about the 2026 budget regarding the
00:27:42Ministry of Energy in terms of revenues, expenditures,
00:27:45and deficits from the beginning of its adoption after the completion
00:27:49of the twelve-year budgets. The second
00:27:52question: What is the possibility of importing crude oil or petroleum
00:27:55products from Gulf countries by land and its economic
00:27:58feasibility? Three: To what extent does
00:28:02the exchange rate intervene in the pricing equation and the mechanism for calculating
00:28:06it? The last question: What about the rehabilitation of the
00:28:10Rmeilan-Homs refinery oil pipeline? Is there a plan
00:28:13for its maintenance and operation? How far
00:28:16has the Ministry progressed in this plan? And are there
00:28:19alternative internal pipelines
00:28:58within the general challenges facing the government. As
00:29:01the colleagues have mentioned, we are in a situation that is
00:29:13have said,
00:29:16regarding the European gas coming from Turkey, even though this question
00:29:19is far from our geography here, it actually affects
00:29:23Syrian territory and the public interest. There are
00:29:26stations that are out of order, and there is
00:29:29no regular reception for this
00:29:33gas and the presence of meters and
00:29:36so on. So what measures have been taken
00:29:41issue? The second issue is regarding
00:29:43oil
00:29:47secondary schools that a decision was issued
00:29:50to suspend them. And
00:29:54especially since there are some students who are, for example, in their first
00:29:57or second year, so I request from the
00:30:03from the minister, to postpone
00:30:06the implementation of this decision for two years so that the student who
00:30:08is in, for example, the first or second secondary year,
00:30:12can complete this study so that it does not
00:30:15waste. The third matter, as one of the
00:30:18alternatives and preferences to fossil
00:30:21fuels, we request from
00:30:24His Excellency the Minister to brief us on the studies
00:30:28and plans for building new dams at
00:30:31the level of the issue. Meaning, our ability as
00:30:34Syria to exploit this in terms
00:30:52that regarding the distinction between
00:30:56petroleum products
00:31:00the citizen as priorities and addressing
00:31:04the citizen's needs, for example.