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.
00:00:04We call them patchwork
00:00:08even though I am not
00:00:26mechanism of work.
00:00:35again, to avoid a
00:00:39Welcome, viewers, to a new episode is difficult. Through sudden oil price increase of Syria Today. In the first segment,
00:00:43we will discuss Minister of Energy Mohammed Al-Bashir's explanation of the fuel crisis,
00:00:46the ministry's problems, and the obstacles facing
00:00:49its work during a hearing before the People's Assembly.
00:00:53groundwork for its implementation. Will he succeed in convincing protesters
00:00:56of the reasons for the price increases?
00:00:59that concern the Syrian We will also discuss, in the second segment,
00:01:01statements by some clerics in
00:01:03the role of Friday sermons and on
00:01:04where. The success social media platforms
00:01:08energy researcher from Banyas. following official events. Are their orientations
00:01:10I start with you, consistent with the Ministry of Endowments' approach, or do they fall under
00:01:14the category of freedoms? In the last segment,
00:01:17we will discuss American warnings of a potential rapid escalation
00:01:21is perhaps considered in the Middle East amidst Houthi attacks on
00:01:24Saudi Arabia. What are the regional considerations for Houthi attacks on
00:01:28Riyadh and the escalation?
00:01:40you. Good evening, Ms.
00:01:45took over, you
00:01:53to put in one
00:01:55lira and get one
00:02:05Minister of Energy Mohammed Al-Bashir said during a hearing
00:02:08in the People's Assembly that Syria needs about
00:02:11831
00:02:14million dollars monthly to purchase petroleum products and crude
00:02:17oil, pointing to a trend towards contracting with friendly
00:02:21countries that produce fuel to secure needs until
00:02:25the country can achieve self-sufficiency. Al-Bashir
00:02:28added that oil production in Syria reached
00:02:32approximately 140,000 barrels per day
00:02:36during a previous short period, explaining
00:02:39that oil production experiences ups and downs due to
00:02:43conditions related to wells, production, and transportation,
00:02:46noting that Syria's strategic reserve of crude oil
00:02:49amounts to about 2.5 billion barrels,
00:02:52indicating that Syria has 78
00:02:55oil fields and 28 gas
00:02:59fields. Regarding the gas
00:03:01for what is happening in file, Al-Bashir said that Syria's gas needs amount to about
00:03:0524 million cubic meters per day,
00:03:09while local production reaches about 8 million cubic
00:03:14say that the Minister price increases. Of course, meters per day, pointing out that Syria currently buys about
00:03:176.3 million cubic meters of
00:03:21gas per day from Azerbaijan, in addition
00:03:24to quantities secured
00:03:26are also written questions through a ship located in the Jordanian port
00:03:31this was before a large income after of Aqaba at a cost of about 140 million
00:03:33dollars monthly. Syria's oil and gas
00:03:37wealth. We have 78
00:03:40this crisis, in addition oil fields, 28 gas fields. Our reserves are
00:03:422.5 billion barrels of crude oil and 241.
00:03:46Of course, these are based
00:03:48It seems there is a problem with the sound with on old surveys. We have not conducted a survey
00:03:51yet. Currently, we have formed a geology committee
00:03:54for oil and gas surveys and a thermal map for
00:03:58That is, neither the geothermal, in addition to the issue of generating
00:04:00energy from geothermal heat.
00:04:03On the sidelines of the Minister of Energy's hearing,
00:04:06members of the People's Assembly confirmed to Syria TV that
00:04:10this session was a quick response to public demands
00:04:16but rather, "Work out after the fuel price increase, and that the Energy Committee
00:04:20reasons, such as the formulated questions that represent
00:04:26the voice of the citizen before the executive authority.
00:04:29This session was a quick response to the people's
00:04:32demands after the increase in fuel prices. The second
00:04:36thing is that the questions submitted by the Energy Committee
00:04:39in its full dimensions, meaning its effects on were not questions that
00:04:43optimally exploited. There were formulated in half an hour. We have had specialists and engineers who have been
00:04:48and other factors that studying and writing reports for a week now. They
00:04:50have come up with statistics and formulated these questions
00:04:54in a way that represents
00:04:56anything that happens the voice of the citizen before the executive authority,
00:04:58and at the same time, propose recommendations and solutions.
00:05:02In the end, when a question is submitted
00:05:05by specialists, the picture is complete. Before the Ministry
00:05:08of Energy, and indeed, the Minister of Energy's
00:05:12briefing and his answers to the questions today, I personally benefited
00:05:15a lot in this sector,
00:05:21a specialist, because he presented it in a way
00:05:23that reached the citizen directly. In fact, we have many
00:05:27questions and suggestions. Now, the entire Syrian people are
00:05:31waiting for this session, waiting for its outcomes, waiting
00:05:34for convincing answers to the fuel price increase
00:05:37that affected people's livelihoods, and thus negatively impacted
00:05:41Syrian society. This matter needs to be addressed,
00:05:44needs future plans to prevent this from happening
00:05:50that citizens wake up to and cannot afford
00:05:53from their work, livelihood,
00:05:59and daily income. Regarding this topic, I
00:06:03welcome Dr. Mohammed Al-Bakir, member of the People's Assembly,
00:06:06joining us live from Damascus. Welcome. And I welcome
00:06:10Abdul Razzaq Habaza, Secretary of the Consumer Protection Association
00:06:13in Syria, joining us from Damascus. I also
00:06:17welcome Ammar Jello,
00:06:20Welcome, my dear guests.
00:06:23Dr. Mohammed. First, let's talk about the outcomes
00:06:26of this meeting that was held today, the
00:06:30hearing session before the People's Assembly with the
00:06:34Minister of Energy. What were the outcomes you came
00:06:38up with today regarding
00:06:38this session, especially
00:06:42since the people are waiting for answers to
00:06:45their questions? Yes, yes, peace and blessings
00:06:49of God be upon
00:06:52Dima, and good evening to the esteemed attendees
00:06:55and viewers. In fact, as you mentioned in
00:06:59the report you presented, this session was urgent,
00:07:02and we in the People's Assembly, according to the
00:07:06rules, held a hearing session from the first day of the fuel
00:07:10price increase. This session was scheduled for last
00:07:14Thursday, and we were preparing for it, but
00:07:17the Minister of Energy postponed it to today
00:07:21for the hearing session. In fact, we in
00:07:24the People's Assembly, through the Energy Committee, directed
00:07:28many questions from members of parliament and specialists
00:07:32to categorize some questions that revolved around the
00:07:34basic and main axes of the Ministry of
00:07:38Energy and its work in general, and around
00:07:41the issue of fuel and electricity price increases,
00:07:45as you saw and witnessed and the Syrian
00:07:48people witnessed. The session was long, lasting
00:07:52for more than five and a half hours
00:07:55approximately. The questions varied, and we tried
00:07:57during these questions to cover all aspects
00:08:01of the crisis. The Minister presented the energy
00:08:04situation in general, the petroleum products situation, the
00:08:08import mechanism, and the reasons for the fuel price increase. However,
00:08:12we represent the voice of the people. We
00:08:16wanted this session to be a session
00:08:20where we find solutions to alleviate the burden of fuel price increases
00:08:23on citizens and electricity
00:08:26several proposals were submitted, and some of
00:08:30them, as you may have seen, were
00:08:33presented orally and directly to the Minister. There
00:08:39that will be submitted to the Ministry of
00:08:43Energy to obtain written answers. Okay,
00:08:46okay, Dr. Bakir, let me welcome our
00:08:49guest who just joined us from Damascus,
00:08:52journalist Yaarob Al-Issa. Welcome, and we
00:08:56will continue the discussion with you, Mr. Habaza,
00:08:59regarding this urgent session that was specifically
00:09:03dedicated to listening and responding to the
00:09:07opinions of the Syrian street. In your opinion,
00:09:09did this session really address the concerns of
00:09:13the Syrian street and the questions they were
00:09:17waiting for? In fact, the explanations
00:09:21revolved around the global energy crisis, the Strait
00:09:24of Hormuz crisis, the Bab al-Mandab crisis,
00:09:28and global prices, in addition to internal objective
00:09:33maintenance of the Banyas refineries, which was
00:09:36previously postponed several times until it reached
00:09:39a stage where postponement was no longer effective.
00:09:42Also, as you know, the oil fields that
00:09:46returned to Syrian sovereignty in the eastern region
00:09:50suffered from misuse and needed maintenance to be
00:09:55are also several objective reasons related to transportation
00:10:00led to this situation. We listened to the
00:10:03Minister, and frankly, for me, not all
00:10:07the answers were convincing, because we want to
00:10:10convey something to the Syrian people. We want
00:10:14to alleviate the burden on citizens. It is
00:10:17illogical that any increase or anything that happens
00:10:21in the world should have immediate repercussions on
00:10:24the simple citizen, the citizen whom we know
00:10:27that 70 to 80% of the Syrian people
00:10:30are now from the middle class or the
00:10:33poor class. So we do not want to burden the citizen,
00:10:37and there was a discussion with the Minister
00:10:40on several proposals and solutions. The state
00:10:43must have a strategic reserve. The state must
00:10:46secure the foreign currency. Okay, okay,
00:10:50Dr. Bakir, let me
00:10:51welcome the guest who
00:11:00joined us now from Damascus, journalist Yaarob
00:11:02Al-Issa. Welcome. And
00:11:07we will continue the discussion. Mr. Abdul Razzaq,
00:11:10concerning this session, how did you view
00:11:14the hearing session before the People's Assembly? To
00:11:17what extent did it
00:11:18really answer the questions
00:11:24street? Madam, like someone seeking refuge from
00:11:27the scorching sun. We were eagerly awaiting the
00:11:31session. In truth, the consumer's concern
00:11:34is great, so the Minister added a new
00:11:38concern for us, the government's concern, on
00:11:41top of our existing concern. Citizens need
00:11:44solutions. The Minister explained all the problems
00:11:48that exist, meaning we went back to square
00:11:51one. The excuses we used to attribute our
00:11:55problems to, like sanctions and Caesar, are now
00:11:58replaced by new excuses: global inflation, no income,
00:12:02and the Ministry of Finance not giving us
00:12:05anything. There is a kind of missing link
00:12:09between the Ministry of Finance and the government.
00:12:13Solutions should have been presented. We don't need
00:12:16the concerns the Minister raised. As a citizen
00:12:20and consumer, I want to live a decent
00:12:24life at its lowest level. I don't want
00:12:27to live a luxurious life. The lowest level,
00:12:31which is energy and food, is not being
00:12:33achieved. Neither energy nor food. The Minister, bless
00:12:36him, did not offer anything new, despite his
00:12:39many problems and the fact that he is
00:12:42juggling many things at once. We know the
00:12:46Minister's problems from those close to him.
00:12:49We know he is a sincere and committed
00:12:52person. But the session should have
00:12:56provided a solution to these concerns. I present
00:12:59the existing problem and I present its solution.
00:13:03The Minister did not provide satisfactory
00:13:05solutions. We always see the blame placed
00:13:09on the minister. If
00:13:13we want to determine responsibility today, where
00:13:16does the responsibility lie? Is it with the
00:13:20main operating committee, or also with the
00:13:23pricing committee, and also the responsibility of the
00:13:27minister? Where does the responsibility of each
00:13:31entity lie regarding the context of this crisis? Madam,
00:13:34the government is a complete whole. We cannot
00:13:39of Energy is responsible, or any other minister.
00:13:42It's a complete whole. The lack of coordination
00:13:46between the different ministries. We know that some
00:13:50ministries have a surplus in their budget and
00:13:55the liberalization. If there was coordination between them,
00:13:58these ministries with a surplus in their budget
00:14:01would contribute to solving
00:14:05to the issue of partnership with the private
00:14:08sector, with greater facilities. We have financial
00:14:11solvency in the private sector, a good financial
00:14:15solvency in some areas, and we know
00:14:19this, and the government knows this. The private
00:14:22sector should be involved, brother, in the partnership
00:14:26between it and the government, to provide
00:14:29the necessary facilities to solve the issue. It
00:14:32cannot bear the burden alone. We will not
00:14:36say to the government, "Bear the burden alone,"
00:14:41solutions that involve many people who have financial
00:14:44solvency, from traders and industrialists who can
00:14:48help the government in this field," in addition
00:14:50to the issue of involving more than one
00:14:58entity in the issue. The Minister of Energy
00:15:02is thanked for the session. The positive thing
00:15:06we noticed is that there was a response.
00:15:09We knew that there is a government that
00:15:13listens to citizens' complaints, even though we had
00:15:17some reservations about the complaint itself. It
00:15:20was a bit exaggerated, but we excuse the
00:15:23citizen's concern given the way they express
00:15:26it. However, the solutions available, and
00:15:30the last solution available regarding pricing, are
00:15:33three types of diesel. In fact,
00:15:37these are not solutions.
00:15:41solutions, solutions that were hastily prepared
00:15:45to absorb the public's anger over the price
00:15:48increase. It would have been better to have
00:15:52bigger and more comprehensive solutions than these solutions
00:15:55that were hastily implemented. The decision that came
00:15:58out after the increase was
00:16:01hastily prepared as a kind of appeasement
00:16:05to the citizen, and I don't think this
00:16:08can be achieved optimally because its implementation
00:16:13my communication with the fuel committees and some
00:16:16private stations, there is difficulty in achieving this, and unfortunately,
00:16:20it has not been
00:16:23implemented yet. It should have been prepared
00:16:27before its issuance, with priorities or a
00:16:30Until now, if I go to fill
00:16:33up with 5.5
00:16:36or 15 fuel, it is not available,
00:16:39and we don't know factors for this decision
00:16:43should have been prepared before its issuance.
00:16:47Okay, Mr. Jello, regarding the proposals
00:16:49that were made, and as my guest
00:16:53mentioned, this session has not yet provided radical solutions. The
00:16:57minister has not presented anything, and the
00:17:01answers that the Syrian street was waiting for
00:17:05were not convincing. If we want to describe
00:17:08the problem of the fuel crisis and the
00:17:11new type of diesel currently available in the
00:17:15market, let's talk about this point regarding the
00:17:19numbers and types. Will it solve the current
00:17:22crisis in Syria? Greetings to you and
00:17:26all the esteemed viewers. This is not a
00:17:29matter of classifying fuels or petroleum products. This
00:17:32is a matter of government administration of
00:17:36the oil sector, or even in general, government
00:17:39administration of at least the service aspects for
00:17:42the Syrian citizen. This is the real crisis.
00:17:45Regarding the hearing session, from its legal designation
00:17:49for those who understand the constitutional legal
00:17:53definition, the word "hearing" is a session of "letting
00:17:56off steam," as it can be called in
00:18:00colloquial language. It does not add anything
00:18:02or solve anything. It only means that the
00:18:05minister presented justifications to the People's Assembly
00:18:09and left. The People's Assembly cannot question
00:18:13him, cannot hold him accountable, cannot dismiss
00:18:16him, and does not even have authority over
00:18:20the government at all, except for this simple
00:18:23paragraph. So, this is also a constitutional
00:18:27crisis in this matter. As for the issue
00:18:30of petroleum products, it is true that global
00:18:33prices are high, but I do not
00:18:36expect that after the basic root of
00:18:40the problem, because we had a previous
00:18:43increase, and by a larger percentage than the
00:18:46current 40% increase in prices, it was
00:18:49in February of last year, even before
00:18:53the outbreak of the American-Israeli conflict
00:18:56against Iran and the emergence of the Strait
00:18:59of Hormuz crisis and global energy supplies.
00:19:03It even reached 80% for gasoline, and
00:19:08the crisis, as I told you. So
00:19:12the justifications might be objective for a
00:19:16political or economic reader, but they
00:19:19are far from objective in Syria.
00:19:22Why? For one reason: because the
00:19:26Syrian citizen and the Syrian people are
00:19:29not economically and service-wise connected to
00:19:33the global connection.
00:19:36services available in Syria are measured by
00:19:39global services for any citizen of any
00:19:43country, nor is the economic level in
00:19:46Syria measured by the economy of any
00:19:50neighboring country or even any country
00:19:53in the world. So the issue
00:19:57of increases and government support for this
00:20:00matter is required, and strongly required,
00:20:04in large sectors, and among them are
00:20:08energy, health, electricity, and
00:20:10education, or energy, which includes electricity.
00:20:14This issue of social security that
00:20:18the new Syrian state seems to have abandoned.
00:20:21This is the real crisis, and there
00:20:25are no official data regarding the
00:20:28official budget, the general financial budget
00:20:32of the state, presented or discussed,
00:20:36or even the legislative authority exists. Even
00:20:39with the legislative authority, what is
00:20:42circulated in the media or other means
00:20:46is the citizen's budget, which contains
00:20:50general figures and does not contain
00:20:53the details that require looking at
00:20:57the gaps in it, or even the
00:21:01possibility of whether the state is prepared to
00:21:04support certain sectors or not. Why
00:21:08doesn't the state bear this responsibility? The
00:21:11state's ability to support certain sectors, for how
00:21:14long? In addition to all this,
00:21:18the government discourse
00:21:30is always late in emerging from the crisis,
00:21:34and we saw this in the bread crisis
00:21:37previously, and now it is currently in
00:21:41the aftermath. In your opinion, where
00:21:44does the main gap lie regarding this
00:21:47point and this delay regarding this crisis,
00:21:51the fuel crisis as a whole?
00:21:55The main gap is the improvisation and speed
00:21:58in issuing decisions. That is, regarding
00:22:02the issue of perhaps bringing money into
00:22:04the state treasury, or perhaps not burdening
00:22:07the state. This
00:22:11a loss, but it is not a
00:22:14loss. It is the basic function of the
00:22:18state to earn from some aspects and
00:22:21pay from other aspects. It does
00:22:24not always balance the issue of
00:22:26trust with the society it represents.
00:22:30This is the real loss, or perhaps
00:22:33the current officials' lack of awareness of
00:22:37this issue. It is not a
00:22:40matter of "I want
00:22:45and a half liras." This is
00:22:48not an economic matter in administration
00:22:52and government. It is a matter
00:22:56of whether trust always exists, whether
00:22:59the voice of the people is heard
00:23:02or not, and whether their concerns
00:23:05are present in the ears of the official
00:23:09or not. That is, the study of these prices
00:23:13and the justifications that were made
00:23:16for them, and even the issue
00:23:20of considering them temporary. Until now,
00:23:23the Minister did not explain the duration of this
00:23:27hearing session. Will it end when
00:23:30the maintenance of the Banyas refinery,
00:23:34which was one of the causes
00:23:37of the price increase, ends? Or
00:23:40will it end when the Strait of Hormuz crisis,
00:23:44which seems to
00:23:47be escalating and compounding, ends?
00:23:50The issue is complicated and more than necessary and
00:23:54not only related to the Strait
00:23:58of Hormuz. After the Strait of
00:24:02Hormuz, Bab al-Mandab, Ukrainian
00:24:05planes. All these issues are global issues, but nevertheless,
00:24:08the impact on global oil prices
00:24:12that I mentioned in the previous
00:24:15discussion was below expectations that
00:24:19said that with the escalation of
00:24:22the crisis in
00:24:24the Strait of Hormuz or with
00:24:28Iran, energy prices would rise to
00:24:321760 dollars per barrel. All
00:24:36this talk, as I told you,
00:24:39is the fundamental gist. It seems
00:24:43that the government is abandoning the
00:24:47concerns of the citizen it represents.
00:24:50However, this session was dedicated to
00:24:54listening to the concerns of the
00:24:57citizen. Okay, at this point,
00:25:01Mr. Yaarob, this point in this
00:25:04meeting that was held to answer
00:25:08the questions and concerns of the Syrian
00:25:12street and the Syrian citizen, did it really address the
00:25:15concerns of the Syrian street? Was the
00:25:19response urgent and effective on the
00:25:22ground? Well, I didn't see
00:25:26a response, so we can't say it
00:25:29was timely, or within the right
00:25:32framework, or sufficient, or insufficient. This
00:25:36is not a response; it's an explanation,
00:25:39an interpretation, a justification. Anything
00:25:42in the world,
00:25:46in the world, is subject to explanation
00:25:49and interpretation. Therefore, all courtrooms in
00:25:52the world witness the prosecutions of the public prosecutor,
00:25:56then the defense, then the prosecution,
00:25:59then the defense, then witnesses, then
00:26:03this explanation and interpretation. The
00:26:06matter is deeper and broader than
00:26:09that, and it is not just
00:26:12a matter of pricing diesel and
00:26:16gasoline. It is not just
00:26:19a matter of pricing electricity.
00:26:23The problem is governance. There is
00:26:26a problem in the
00:26:29It's not in the performance of
00:26:32this minister, and everyone who knows
00:26:35him praises his personal ethics
00:26:38and integrity, and his sincerity.
00:26:42But this is not enough. There
00:26:45is a problem in the way the
00:26:49state is managed, the economy is
00:26:52managed, services are managed, people's
00:26:55affairs are managed. There is a problem
00:26:59in understanding the role of the
00:27:02state. That is,
00:27:05the state is not, as the
00:27:09professor who spoke a moment ago,
00:27:13said, that the issue should not
00:27:16be to buy for one lira
00:27:19and sell for one and a
00:27:22half liras. The role of the
00:27:26state, the role of the government,
00:27:29is not this. That is, the role of the
00:27:33state is to be
00:27:36responsible for the lives of citizens.
00:27:39This is what we call the
00:27:42social contract. That is, you
00:27:48stepped up to manage this state
00:27:52in an exceptional circumstance, in a
00:27:55transitional phase. This places responsibilities
00:27:58on you. It's not the Minister
00:28:02of Energy, it's not Mohammed Al-Bashir,
00:28:05and it's not such-and-such minister
00:28:08or such-and-such official. It's not this
00:28:12whole system. You stepped up to
00:28:16manage a state. You, by virtue
00:28:19of this role, you control the
00:28:23state's resources. The state's resources belong
00:28:27to the people of this state. That
00:28:30is, Mohammed Al-Bashir does not personally
00:28:34own more in the Al-Omar field,
00:28:37for example, than I do, or
00:28:40you, or the esteemed professors.
00:28:44This means we had a hearing through which we tried
00:28:47to convey the citizen's voice and we tried to find solutions
00:28:51also for this crisis that we are experiencing.
00:28:54Honestly, the citizen is always on our side
00:28:58and in his favor, and the citizen
00:29:01should not pay any price
00:29:04the world in terms of fluctuations and so on. The state
00:29:08must have a strategic plan to deal with such
00:29:11crises, especially the fuel crisis and the electricity
00:29:14and energy crisis in general, which affects the core of people's
00:29:18lives in general. Sir
00:29:21Habze, from the perspective of consumer protection, especially in light of this
00:29:25session that took place today, what is required from the concerned authorities,
00:29:29from the ministry and also from the concerned parties,
00:29:32so that these steps are actually implemented
00:29:35on the ground?
00:29:44Mr. Abdul Razzaq, can you hear
00:29:45me?
00:29:51Mr. Abdul Razzaq. Okay.
00:29:54Let me go to you, Mr. Jalloul,
00:29:57regarding the context of responsibilities, especially
00:30:01a short while ago, it was mentioned
00:30:03that the responsibility lies with whom today, within the framework of these
00:30:06meetings and within the framework of this campaign
00:30:09that came from the people
00:30:13in several areas in Syria? Where does
00:30:16the responsibility lie today and where does the responsibility end regarding
00:30:19the Ministry of Energy and also the concerned authorities responsible
00:30:23for the price-setting committee and the Syrian Petroleum Company
00:30:27in the context of
00:30:28this crisis?
00:30:31Well, from my point of view, at least, the responsibility is the responsibility of the price-setting
00:30:35committee, which has always been arbitrary and quick in this matter and
00:30:38did not take the matter
00:30:42the Syrian citizen, and then the government's
00:30:45approach in managing the country's resources
00:30:48or even in the general administration of the state.
00:30:52It seems that even in certain places, the ministries or even
00:30:55the institutions are scattered islands within the government structure.