In an interview with Sputnik Arabic, Al-Mahdi Al-Dali, head of the Syrian Committee for Domestic Production Support, about 20 metric tons of citrus fruit of the current crop have already been delivered to Russia.
"This shipment came within the framework of the program launched by the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade and our committee to expand the trade market; as for Russia, it remains the main market for Syrian citrus crops," he said.
According to Al-Mahdi Al-Dali, earlier Syria supplied about 8,445 tons of fruit and vegetables, including 482 tons of tomatoes, pomegranate and cauliflower.
The development of the Russia-Syria farming trade turnover was the result of increasing efforts by responsible parties in the two countries' governments.
It has led to the signing of a bilateral agreement in late October on cooperation in the customs sector to facilitate the delivery of Syrian agricultural products to Russia.
"Syrian exports to Russia will continue to grow as we develop projects on creating more trade routes from Tartus to other Russian ports," Al-Mahdi Al-Dali said.
Tartus hosted a Russian Navy maintenance and support facility since 1977.
Currently, the Tartus facility is the Russian Navy’s only support base in the Mediterranean Sea.
It continues to perform its designated mission. The Tartus facility is manned exclusively by civilians.
