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Syria received its first shipments of wheat and cement at a pier previously used by Russian forces, according to officials at the Port of Tartus, where Reuters reporters saw Russian troops collecting equipment and vacating parts of the jetty.
Both shipments arrived on Tuesday, August 11, two days after Damascus announced an agreement with Moscow on the future of Russian bases in Tartus and at Hmeimim airport, both located in Syria's northwestern coastal regions.
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the agreement stipulates the country will take over the management of civilian facilities, including Hmeimim airport and the commercial pier of the Port of Tartus. Military facilities will be converted into joint training centers.
"We began operating Pier 4 after the Department of Operations took control. Work started immediately with the consecutive reception of two vessels," Youssef Arnous, head of the operations and investment department at the Port of Tartus, told Reuters.
Arnous added that this pier can accommodate up to three vessels simultaneously and that the storage areas directly in front of the jetty will reduce the waiting time for ships during anchoring.
LSEG data showed that both vessels originated from Turkish ports, although their exact place of origin was not immediately determined.
On Wednesday, Reuters reporters at the port observed Russian forces vacating a building near the pier and moving equipment to another nearby military facility.
It was also not immediately clear how many Russian troops remain in Tartus or Hmeimim. A Syrian source familiar with the agreement indicated that some Russian military personnel will remain in Syria as part of the pact.
The future of the bases was shrouded in uncertainty after the 2024 flight of Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally, from the country. The memorandum of understanding was reached after 18 months of intense negotiations.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Tuesday, August 11, that it considers the agreement "an important step aimed at further improving bilateral cooperation in the military sphere."
Russia has long considered its naval and air bases in Syria a key source of geopolitical influence in the Middle East and a projection of power in the Mediterranean and Africa.
The Tartus facility is Russia's only repair and resupply center in the Mediterranean, and Moscow has used Syria as a stopover for transferring its military contractors to and from Africa.
Reuters reported in July that part of Tartus's fourth pier, previously used by Russian armed forces, will be transformed into a commercial and logistics hub.
