A document issued by the Syrian Presidency (minutes of a meeting dated May 29, 2024) reveals intense Russian pressure on the Assad regime to settle urgent military debts, amid explicit threats to halt protection of oil and gas facilities.
The “Protection” Bill in Numbers
General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Defense, demanded immediate cash payments, including:
• $37.16 million: Total accumulated debt for protection services from November 2023 to May 2024.
• $4.5 million per month: Salaries of Russian military personnel and Syrian workers involved in security.
• $1.16 million: Additional costs for equipping Russian forces’ bases at oil sites.
The Language of Threats: "Putin Doesn't Know"
General Yevkurov's conversation with Mansour Azzam (then Secretary General of the Presidency) was marked by its sharp tone, highlighting the following points:
Yevkurov asserted that Russia would cease payments starting in June 2024, warning, "I don't like being deceived... The dialogue with the Minister of Oil will be conducted differently." The general claimed that President Putin and the new Minister of Defense were unaware of the debt, threatening to hold the Syrian Minister of Oil responsible and send him "on a combat mission to the Ukrainian front" as punishment.
The document explicitly demanded the cessation of payments to Evro Polis (a Wagner Group front) and the transfer of contracts to the Russian security services company Airpost-M.
The Position of the Former Regime
The minutes revealed Mansour Azzam's attempt to appease and maneuver. He claimed ignorance of the debt's details, describing it as a "technical matter" between ministries. He requested a reduction in the monthly payment from $10 million to $5 million and promised to resolve the issue "very quickly" to avoid Russian anger.
The document proves that the relationship between Moscow and the former regime was purely "contractual and material"; Russia made the continuation of Syrian oil production contingent on direct cash payment, and used the security threat as a tool to collect debts and change the commercial loyalties of Russian companies on the ground.
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