LONDON/HAMBURG, (Reuters) — Deliveries of wheat are starting to reach Syria’s ports as its bank accounts abroad are gradually being freed from sanctions, with grain traders detecting a greater willingness from European governments to allow deals to go ahead on humanitarian grounds.
As civil war grinds on, Syria is facing its worst wheat harvest in three decades. President Bashar al-Assad, who has already escaped air strikes as punishment for chemical weapons attacks, will now be able to bolster depleted food supplies.
Trade sources familiar with commercial deals said at least 500,000 tonnes of bread-making wheat that Syria had tried to obtain months ago, but which could not be paid for because its foreign bank accounts were frozen, were now starting to be delivered.
Read Also
Anti-separatist movement targets rural Alberta
Former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk’s anti-separatism Alberta Forever Canada petition campaign expects to run full steam ahead into the province’s farming regions
“What we are seeing at the moment is Syrian government business that was done in the past — between four to six months ago — that is only now being executed,” a Middle East based trade source involved in deals said. “It looks like the payment issues are being resolved.”
A source with Syria’s state wheat buyer, the General Establishment for Cereal Processing and Trade, (Hoboob), confirmed deals were struck months ago for 500,000 tonnes of wheat, adding that 150,000 tonnes had recently been delivered using previously frozen funds.
“The willingness amongst governments that have frozen Syrian assets to offer waivers allowing the regime to tap into these funds in order to buy food staples is likely to increase in the short term,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt of risk consultancy Maplecroft.
“Following the U.S. administration’s decision to forgo air strikes, at least in the short term, the conflict remains a stalemate in which the humanitarian situation will continue to deteriorate.”
Banking sanctions and asset freezes created a climate that had made it difficult to do business with Damascus.
