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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Syria buys grain via Lebanon to beat sanctions | |
| 2012-05-10 | |
| HAMBURG: Syria is importing significant volumes of grain via Lebanon to work around western sanctions and secure vital supplies, European traders told Reuters. The trade is not illegal because food imports are not included in sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States and other Western countries on President Bashar Assad’s government over his crackdown on a revolt. But the measures have blocked access to trade finance for Syria in the same way as similar penalties imposed on Iran over its nuclear program. Growing numbers of Syrians are struggling to obtain food, with prices of staples more than doubling after more than a year of conflict that has cost more than 10,000 lives. Some people in the capital Damascus, long spared the violence but now shaken by explosions overnight, say they are stocking up with at least a month’s supplies. “Syrian grain imports are being transacted in large volumes using offices in Lebanon to handle the paperwork and act as initial buyer,” one trader said. “The deal is then re-booked in Lebanon, and ships are then later diverted to Syrian ports.” Some trade sources said hundreds of thousands of tons were involved, while deals in smaller volumes are also being booked via dealers based in Dubai. “Food imports themselves are not stopped by the sanctions, but it is the impact of the banking sanctions which is disrupting imports,” a second trader said. Syrian imports booked in the past two months include wheat for food as well as barley and corn for animal feed. The Black Sea region, including Ukraine and Russia, has been the main grain source, dealers said.
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| Posted by:Steve White |