Supporting Syria, Crimea received the first 46 tons of olive oil

Illustration photo: Ria Novosti

The first shipment of Syrian olive oil has arrived today, the Republic of Crimea's Agriculture Minister said. In addition to Crimea, Syrian olive oil will be sold in other regions of Russia.

Earlier, in October, the head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, said that the supply of fresh fruit and olive oil from Syria to Crimea would be carried out in the fall. Accordingly, Crimean enterprises are ready to send their specialists to Syria to rebuild the railway system, restore power plants, produce equipment for the oil and gas industry, produce plastic pipes... Coal for thermal power will also be transported to Syria.

"The first two containers of olive oil have arrived in Crimea with a volume of 46 tons. Part of it will be transferred to the land distribution network, distributed to other regions of Russia; the rest will be used on the Crimean peninsula. The price of olive oil is adjusted accordingly, the quality is good" - Crimean Agriculture Minister Andrei Vasyuta said.

This is a practical action by Crimea to support Syria in the process of rebuilding the country after the war, and is under a lot of pressure from sanctions against Bashar al-Assad's government from the US and Western allies.

The import of olive oil from Syria is included in the memorandum of understanding on economic and trade cooperation between Crimea and Syria at the Yalta International Economic Forum held in April 2019. In it, the leaders outlined a plan to establish a joint commercial project and shipping company to ensure regular sea transport between the ports of Latakia and the Russian peninsula. Accordingly, oil, fuel, food, necessities... from Crimea will go to Syria. They also import citrus trees, oilseeds such as olives, olive oil and many other agricultural products from Syria.

The proposal for this economic and trade cooperation agreement was officially approved by the Russian government in June 2019.