Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham

Wassim Qattan is a Damascene businessman who emerged among Syria’s business elite only a few years ago and is believed to be acting as a front for powerful regime personalities. Unknown prior to 2017, Mr Qattan has acquired several high-profile contracts from state institutions in the real estate and hospitality sectors. With little information on his source of wealth, he is widely believed to be acting as a front for wealthy and powerful regime personalities, even if the identity of his sponsor remains unclear.

The government has increased unsubsidised oil prices, attributing the hike to “rising global oil prices” and to its effort “to narrow the wide gap with black market prices.” Damascus has also announced a new Iranian credit line for the purchase of oil supplies from Tehran.

The Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria announced that it will purchase wheat from local farmers at a price 91 percent higher than last year and 5 percent higher than that of the Syrian government.

In an effort to ease the fallout of sanctions in non-government territories and stabilise areas liberated from the Islamic State, the U.S. administration has issued a general licence authorising economic activities, including foreign investments, in non-regime held areas of Northwest and Northeast Syria.

The number of early recovery projects in opposition-held areas has increased by 29 percent on a year-on-year basis, according to a new report.

A recent 55-page report provides a comprehensive overview of the captagon drug trade in Syria, its evolution since the early 2000s, methods of production, implicated state and non-state actors, and market trends.