Syria Hopes Russia to Co-Finance New Thermal Power Plant Construction

The Syrian government hopes an agreement with Russia will be reached to allocate funds for the construction of the Tishreen-3 power plant, Russia’s Ambassador to Syria Alexander Kinshchak said.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – Syria hopes to receive substantial financial assistance from Russia for the construction of the new Tishreen-3 thermal power plant near the country’s capital, Damascus, Russia’s Ambassador to Syria said.

"As a pilot project, I would point out, if we manage to come to an agreement about the allocation of funding for the construction of the new thermal power plant Tishreen-3… the Syrians hope that we will be able to provide a significant portion of the required funds," Alexander Kinshchak said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

In late June, a Syrian delegation discussed this issue while on a visit to Moscow, he added.

Russia had previously participated in the building of the Tishreen-1 power plant in the 1980s and 1990s, the ambassador said.

Aside from the Tishreen project, Russian companies are involved in other major projects in Syria, a case in point is Russia's Stroytransgaz, which signed a contract for the implementation of the first phase of the Tigris River irrigation project in 2014.

Another Russian company, Sovocrim, has already started constructing four mills in Syria. The contract is worth approximately $17.5 million. Construction of the first mill is almost finished.