President Aksyonov: Crimea plans to launch flights to Syria

President of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov has announced that his country will launch flights to Syria through Armenia and the Russian province of Kuban.

Crimea is to inaugurate flights to Syria through the cities of Sochi, Anapa and Yerevan, Aksyonov told Sputnik News Agency on Tuesday, noting the current coordination for this purpose.

During his meeting on Monday with a Syrian economic delegation, Aksyonov stressed his country’s keenness on enhancing trade partnership programs with Syria.

In a relevant context, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Crimea under the President of Russia Georgy Muradov said that the ports of Crimea may become the main southern maritime gates for Russia in order to boost trade and economic cooperation with Syria.

He added that other Russian areas also can establish trade ties with Syria through Crimea without being exposed to the danger of sanctions.

“A trade House has already been established between Syria and Crimea and now we are working to increase trade exchange between the two countries,” Muradove said.

In a statement, the Press Service in Crimea said that representatives from the republic of Crimea and Syria have discussed the possibility of repairing and building ships in the facilities of the Russian region.

The statement added that in the field of agriculture, the conditions for cooperation in organizing the transportation of goods and products from Crimea to Syria were specified.

The statement pointed out that experts from Crimea are planning to take part in renovating historical and cultural heritage sites in Syria, including the internationally famous Arch of Triumph in Palmyra.

Syria’s Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Mohammad Samer Al-Khalil said in a statement to reporters during a visit to Crimea that “Syria seeks to buy 1.5 million tons of wheat annually”, referring to Russia’s major role in supplying Syria with wheat.

Al-Khalil pointed out that the terrorist war on Syria caused a decrease in its annual wheat production from 2 million to 400,000 tons.

In an interview with Crimea News Agency, Al-Khalil said Syria is famous for producing textiles, food products and detergents, pointing out that Syrian and Crimean officials have agreed that Syria presents a list of all the products and goods it is willing to export.