European countries have recently resumed imports of phosphate from Syria, benefiting a Russian company and the sanctions-hit Damascus regime, according to a report by a consortium of investigative journalists led by The Netherlands-based Lighthouse Reports and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
The importers include four European Union (E.U.) Member States – Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, and Poland – as well as Serbia and Ukraine, according to the report “A ‘Bloody’ Trade: Inside the Murky Supply Chain Bringing Syrian Phosphates Into Europe,” published on June 30.
Despite the risks of sanctions violations, the six countries have imported over $80 million worth of Syrian phosphates between them since 2019, according to the new investigation.
Citing E.U. and U.N. Trade data, it found Italy resumed importing in 2020 and Bulgaria in 2021, while Spain and Poland started importing Syrian phosphates earlier this year.
Greece stopped importing Syrian phosphates after 2018.
Total Phosphate Imports from Syria 2016-Mid-2022
| Importing country | Mt |
| Serbia | 1,166,439 |
| Ukraine | 579,046 |
| Greece | 64,018 |
| Italy | 31,054 |
| Bulgaria | 25,611 |
| Spain | 6,500 |
| Poland | 220 |
Source: “A ‘Bloody’ Trade: Inside the Murky Supply Chain Bringing Syrian Phosphates Into Europe,” citing U.N. Comtrade data
According to the report, Ukraine’s imports of Syrian phosphates increased from $3-million worth in 2018 to $15-million worth last year, citing U.N. Comtrade data, and are taking place despite Ukrainian sanctions on Russian energy major Stroytransgaz and its owner. Ukraine’s imports of Syrian phosphates halted after the Russian invasion in February.
The phosphate export deals are managed by companies linked to Stroytransgaz, which has controlled Syria’s Tartous port and Syrian state-run fertilizer plants since 2019, as well as having the right to extract and sell phosphates for a period of 50 years from two key Syrian phosphate mines (GM Dec. 20, 2019).
Serbia, Europe’s top buyer of Syrian phosphates in recent years, imported $26.9 million worth of Syrian goods in 2021, the investigation found, citing an unnamed Serbian business registry. However, the products imported were not specified.
Neither the E.U. nor the U.S. specifically prohibit the purchase of Syrian phosphates, but the U.S. has imposed sanctions on both the Syrian government and Stroytransgaz. The E.U. has sanctioned Stroytransgaz’s owner, Russian billionaire – and a reported close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin – Gennady Timchenko, as well as another reported major player in the trade, Syrian Oil and Minerals Minister Bassam Toumeh.
Unnamed experts cited by the report said companies still run the risk of violating sanctions even if the phosphates trade is technically legal.
Asked about the imports, the European Commission told the investigation it was up to individual countries to decide whether Syrian phosphate imports break sanctions. Authorities in Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Serbia confirmed to the investigation that they regard the trade as legal. But the investigation did not receive a response from the Italian authorities regarding the trade, according to the report.
But according to a Syrian economist, Karam Shaar, cited in the report, the trade shows how easily sanctions can be circumvented by “opaque supply channels and channeling of funds and goods through unknown subsidiaries of targeted companies.” He is of the view that exporting phosphates to Europe is a violation of sanctions.
The investigation found that after leaving the mines, most Syrian phosphates make their way to Syria’s Mediterranean port of Tartous, with the majority of the E.U. imports entering the bloc through Romania. Most of the shipments are handled by two Middle Eastern companies and are in Lebanese ownership, according to the report. The investigation found ships transporting Syrian phosphates to Europe showed a pattern of switching off their tracking systems while heading towards Syria and re-appearing when on route to Europe.
Syria’s phosphate industry collapsed when Islamic State militants seized the country’s largest mines in 2015. Production revived after Syrian forces recaptured them a year later, attracting buyers even from countries that opposed Bashir al-Assad’s regime.