Major agreements at top and systematic waste at bottom

While the official platforms of the Syrian Petroleum Company are busy promoting international investment agreements as "strategic achievements" that will transform the economic landscape, a completely different reality is unfolding behind the scenes: the daily squandering of millions of liters of diesel fuel, with no serious action taken to stop this systematic waste of national wealth. Syria's Tourism

The Shocking Paradox: Investment Abroad, Waste at Home

These current contradictions raise a fundamental question: What is the point of signing development contracts worth billions of Syrian pounds if the available resources are being wasted so easily? The fuel sector, which represents the backbone of the Syrian economy and essential services, continues to be managed with a rigid mindset that fails to grasp the sensitivity of the current situation or the magnitude of the successive crises affecting daily life.

The Public Sector: A Safe Haven for the Black Market?

Huge quantities of diesel fuel are supplied monthly to public sector institutions (hospitals, bakeries, telecommunications, municipalities, and sanitation services) to ensure the continued operation of vital facilities. However, multiple testimonies and sources confirm that a significant portion of these allocations does not reach generators or government vehicles, but rather leaks through "alternative channels" to the black market.

The biggest missing element here is the oversight role of the Syrian Company for the Storage and Distribution of Petroleum Products (SADCOP). Despite possessing the technical capabilities, the reality reveals:

- Lack of tanker tracking: a loss of control over the movement of fuel from depots to its final destination.

- Inadequate auditing: a lack of genuine alignment between "actual needs" and allocated allocations, leaving wide loopholes for manipulation.

- Suspicions surrounding oversight committees: some quality and control committees have become mere figureheads lacking expertise, amidst accusations against some staff members of illicit coordination with administrative branches.

Solutions Absent Due to Administrative Decisions

Observers believe that the solution does not require "miracles," but rather basic technical and administrative measures that experts have been calling for for years, most notably:

- Re-engineering Needs: a precise technical assessment of each sector based on actual operating hours.

- Smart Oversight: Implementing digital tracking systems and effective accountability that go beyond "pre-prepared" paper reports.

- Oversight Independence: Forming specialized technical committees independent of the direct influence of branch management.

 Beyond Simply Changing Names

The crisis in the management of the Mahrukat Company is no longer about changing a director or replacing one official with another; it is a crisis of "will" and the absence of a national strategy to protect what remains of the resources. The Syrian Petroleum Company must realize that Mahrukat is its true face to the citizen, and that every liter of diesel wasted is a blow to the wall of trust, a failure that cannot be masked by the glitter of international agreements.

This continued hemorrhage is not merely an administrative flaw, but a direct squandering of the Syrian people's livelihood and their sovereign wealth. The silence of the relevant authorities is no longer acceptable or justifiable.