Syria’s fallen dictator Bashar Assad airlifted roughly $250 million in money to Moscow between 2018 and 2019, amid escalating Western sanctions and deepening monetary dependence on Russia for army and financial help, a report mentioned on Sunday.
Syria’s central financial institution flew shipments of U.S. {dollars} and euros, weighing almost 2 tons, to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, paperwork obtained by the Financial Times revealed. These funds have been deposited into Russian banks sanctioned by the U.S.
The transfers got here throughout a interval when Syria, fighting depleted overseas reserves, relied closely on Russian army backing, together with help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner.
“The regime would have to bring their money abroad to a safe haven to be able to use it to procure the fine life… for the regime and its inner circle,” mentioned David Schenker, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs.
Syrian money was used for varied functions, together with funds for wheat, army bills and money-printing companies in Russia.
“When a country is completely surrounded and sanctioned, they have only cash,” a supply aware of the transactions famous.
Assad’s inside circle funnels wealth into Russia
The Financial Times investigation additionally highlighted how Assad’s household and associates moved property into Russia.
Since 2013, Assad’s family bought at the least 20 luxurious residences in Moscow utilizing intricate monetary preparations.
Eyad Hamid, a senior researcher on the Syrian Legal Development Program, mentioned: “Russia has been a haven to the Assad regime’s finances for years,” underscoring its function as a hub for sanctions evasion.
U.S. officers have accused Assad’s regime of widespread corruption and felony exercise to finance its battle efforts.
The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned a number of Syrian and Russian entities concerned in facilitating these money transfers.
Malik al-Abdeh, a Syrian analyst, famous: “The Syrian state could be paying the Russian state for a military intervention.”
These revelations make clear how Assad’s regime sustained itself financially throughout Syria’s devastating civil battle whereas Western sanctions pushed it additional into Moscow’s orbit.
Assad, who dominated Syria with an iron fist for almost 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8 after anti-regime teams seized management of Damascus in a lightning offensive that lasted lower than two weeks.
Source: www.dailysabah.com