Russian-Syrian Intergovernmental Commission Gives Stroytransgaz High Marks
Friday, November 21, 2008
The Permanent Russian-Syrian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation completed its sixth session yesterday. Minister of Communications and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation Igor Schegolev headed the representatives of the Russian side, while Minister of Economy and Trade of the Syrian Arab Republic Amer Hosni Lutfi led the Syrian delegation. Stroytransgaz First Vice-President Leonid Bokhanovsky participated in the intergovernmental commission’s session.
During three days of work, the parties discussed a complex of questions on development of bilateral relations and expressed satisfaction with cooperation between the Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources of the Syrian Arab Republic and Russian oil and gas companies.
The role Stroytransgaz has played in developing Syria’s fuel and energy complex received particular emphasis and was noted in the session protocol. That document includes a positive assessment of Stroytransgaz’s work to build the Arab Gas Pipeline from the Jordanian-Syrian border to Homs, the construction of two gas processing plants (GPP-1 and GPP-2), development of the gas fields in North and South Palmyra, and the Abu-Rabah field tie-in to the Arab Gas Pipeline. The protocol emphasizes the importance of the contract between Stroytransgaz and Syrian Gas Company, concluded October 12, 2008, for construction of the second part of the Arab Gas Pipeline, to run from Aleppo to the Turkish-Syrian border.
In order to implement this joint project, the parties agreed to accelerate establishment of a joint venture between Syrian Gas Company and Stroytransgaz.
In the area of electric energy, Russia and Syria agreed that finalizing negotiations for expansion of the Syrian thermal power plant Tishrin was essential. Stroytransgaz is among Russian companies that form a consortium for work on the plant.
