Russia

New figures issued by the European Union indicate that Syrian first-time asylum applicants increased in 2022 for the second year in a row, while illegal border crossings nearly doubled year-on-year. 

The number of passengers and goods transported by the Syrian Railways Organisation, Syria’s main railway operator, increased by 127 percent and 26 percent, respectively, in 2022, compared with 2020 (data for 2021 is unavailable). 

A Food and Agriculture Organisation project, which represents the first Russia-funded FAO project in Syria, has recently launched operations in Aleppo.

Two state-owned banks connected their ATM networks with other state and private banks as part of the government’s larger plan to automate services.

The Syrian government has been seeking to increase phosphate production and export as it starts excavating a new mine near Palmyra and renews a barter deal with Belarus.

On January 9, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to authorise the renewal of Syria’s cross-border aid mechanism a day before it expired. The renewal, which extends the mechanism for another six months, will permit humanitarian deliveries to 4 million Syrians in Northwest Syria.