Fuel crisis in regime’s areas: between the overwhelming popular discontent and the Russian role in exacerbating the crisis and mixing political and economic cards in the context of its cold war with Iran
Areas of Bashar al-Assad’s regime are witnessing the continuation of fuel crisis of its scarcity and significant disruption in all the provinces under regime’s control, in conjunction with a complete failure by the regime to solve this dilemma until the moment, where the regime simply has enough with issuing statements through its officials and holding the responsibility of its crisis to the “conspiracy,” which it has been facing over the past years, also, the regime did not have enough with being unable to resolve the fuel crisis, but it reduced the fuel of the citizens’ vehicles, which led to resentment among the citizens living within its controlled areas, particularly those with limited income who are poor, where the vehicles and cars almost abandoned the roads in the major provinces as a result of the fuel crisis, and now we see queues of cars waiting at the gas stations to take “drops” of fuel, also tens and hundreds of citizens are waiting their turn in queues to get gasoline and gas, where the social media sites have been filled with pictures and videos showing the suffering and tragedy that the citizens have been living in areas of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The Syrian Observatory monitored another great dissatisfaction, which is the Russian role in the fuel crisis, how does Russia not giving a helping hand to its ally, Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and it is able to solve the crisis from its roots? And where the energies of wells in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor and the Syrian Desert are going? Where sources from within the regime of Bashar al-Assad informed the Syrian Observatory that Russia -quite the contrary- is seeking to exacerbate the fuel crisis and intervene to solve it later after it gets gains from the regime; in what is in the best interest of the Russians regarding its cold war with Iran, Iran which in turn has stopped months ago exporting oil to Syria, which makes the Syrian citizen the victim of the Russian – Iranian conflict as they mix the political, economic, and military cards.
On the other side, the crossings which connect areas of control of the regime forces with areas of control of the opposition factions at the north, are witnessing tight procedures in terms of not allowing the full passage of oil derivatives to regime forces’-controlled areas, where the “Turkish-backed Free Syria Army” issued a statement a few days ago prohibiting the export of petroleum materials to regime forces’-controlled areas through Abu al-Zendin crossing of al-Bab area, while the crossings of Morek and Qal’aat al-Madiq which connect regime forces’-controlled areas with areas of control of Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham in the northern and northwestern countryside of Hama, and both of them have stopped passing oil materials completely, also Tahrir al-Sham detonated days ago al-Sharia bridge in Sahl al-Ghab area at the western countryside of Hama.
The Syrian Observatory published on Sunday the 14th of April 2019 that the discontent continues among the Syrian citizens who are living under the control of the regime forces in various Syrian territories, especially in the major provinces and their main centers, against the backdrop of the undergoing fuel crisis that the Syrian people are living there, in terms of the fuel occasionally and the rising of its prices sometimes insanely, in addition to being monopolized in the black market under the procedures of the Syrian regime’s authorities; to allocate certain quantities to the citizen of gasoline and diesel, where these quantities do not fill their daily need as it is a necessity in the daily life of the human being to produce many of the life’s needs, and the undergoing fuel crisis has been on the rise after the Syrian regime’s authorities issued the “smart card” in August 2018, starting from Tartous Province, followed by the capital Damascus and extended to al-Suwaidaa, Latakia, Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, where the citizens now cannot buy gasoline from gas stations except by using the “smart card” and in limited quantities, here they cannot fill gasoline except according to the quantity imposed by regime’s authorities, which caused a suffocating crisis in the big cities and sparked resentment of citizens, forcing them to go to the black market due to the urgent need for these materials despite their high prices there.
And not like regime forces’-controlled areas; areas of control of Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the factions are relatively stable with regard to fuel, where the prices have been stable recently and the fuel is available in the market, where Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham supervises the fuel in the areas it controls, where it distributes it to certain people who in turn sell it to the consumer, where the price of gasoline now is 400 SYP per liter, and 230 SYP per liter for the gasoline, and the price of the gas cylinder is about 5200 SYP. It worth mentioning that the fuel reaches the Syrian north via Turkey and via the Syria Democratic Forces’ controlled areas in general via smugglers.