Syria cancels Russian port lease, forcing military withdrawal from Tartus

Syria has terminated an investment agreement that gave Russia control over the strategic Tartus port, marking a significant shift in the long-standing military and economic partnership between the two nations.

The development deals a strategic blow to Russia’s naval capabilities during its ongoing war in Ukraine, as Tartus served as Moscow’s only naval maintenance and resupply point in the Mediterranean Sea since the 1970s, eliminating the need for ships to return to Black Sea ports.

“There is no comparable alternative base for the [Russian Navy] in the region,” UK military intelligence said in a statement Tuesday. “Its ability to logistically support both its military and its private military contractors in Africa, as well as limiting the reputational damage incurred through the fall of the Assad regime, will almost certainly be priorities for the Russian government.”

According to al-Watan newspaper, Tartus Customs Director Riyad Judi announced the termination of the agreement with Russian company Stroytransgaz, which was originally set to manage the port for 49 years. The 2019 deal, announced by then-Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov, included a planned $500 million investment to increase the port’s capacity from 4 to 38 million tons annually. However, it was cast into doubt when ousted Syrian dictator Assad fled to Moscow in November 2024. 

Judi stated that Syrian authorities will now focus on rehabilitating outdated port equipment, which he claims the Russian management company failed to modernize as stipulated in the agreement. He added that all port revenues will now benefit “the Syrian state,” with workers returning to Syrian management.

The termination follows significant political changes in Syria, where rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham overthrew dictator Bashar al-Assad in late November 2024. Following the ousting, Assad’s Russian military backers retreated to their longtime military bases of Tartus and Khmeimem amid uncertainty about whether the lease would be prolonged.

After Assad’s ousting, the Russian army accumulated a stockpile of military equipment on the quayside at Tartus. According to Ukraine’s military intelligence agency HUR, the Syrian authorities did not allow Russia to remove the giant accumulation of gear, including sophisticated S-400 air defense systems. 

However, now the Russian military ships Sparta I and Sparta II have entered the port, Crimean Wind reported, and are likely to start evacuating the equipment.

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