By Timour Azhari
(Reuters) – Syria’s new rulers are combing through a billion-dollar corporate empire of allies of ousted President Bashar al-Assad and have talks with some of the tycoons who It is about a campaign that takes root in corruption and illegal activities.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group that now runs Syria promised to rebuild the country after 13 years of brutal civil war and abandoned a highly eccentric and corrupt economic system, Assad Relatives hold Sway.
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To this end, executives led by new President Ahmed Al-Sharaa formed a committee to analyze the high-profile Assad and Samer Foz ) and Mohammad Hamsho’s high profile corporate interests.
According to the Syrian Central Bank reviewed transactions with Reuters, a few days after the new government took Damascus, the new government issued an order aimed at freezing bank accounts with Assad businesses and individuals, and later specially listed the U.S. sanctions list. Order.
Hamsho and Foz, respectively, targeted U.S. sanctions, respectively, and met with a senior HTS figure in Damascus in January, anonymously, according to a government official and two Syrians who knew the matter directly.
The two were condemned by many ordinary Syrians for their close ties to Assad, three sources said, who promised to work with the fact-finding efforts of the new leader.
Foz’s massive Aman Holding conglomerate has an interest in pharmaceuticals, sugar refining, trade and transportation amid the U.S. Treasury Department allegations.
Hamsho’s interests are grouped under the Hamsho International Group, as are the same from petrochemicals and metal products to television production.
Hamshaw, who was accused of Assad and his brother Maher’s front, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. FOZ cannot be reached.
The committee members are not public, and conversations between Syria’s new government and the two closest tycoons of the Assad government have not been reported.
Syrian analysts and businessmen say the new Syrian government’s approach to strong Assad-linked businesses will be key to determining the fate of the economy as the government works to convince Washington and its allies to eliminate sanctions.
Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan and Syrian investment head Ayman Hamawiye both confirmed to Reuters that the government has been with some with Assad The businessmen who contacted remained in touch, but did not identify them or provide more details.
FOZ’s long-time partner Khaldoun Zoubi confirmed that his colleagues had held talks with Syrian authorities but did not confirm whether he had been in the country.
“Foz told them that he was ready to work with the new government and provide all support to the Syrian people and New South Wales,” Zoubi said. “He was ready to do anything that asked him.”
Two Syrian sources said Foz, who has Turkish citizenship, left Damascus after the talks. Reuters cannot determine Hamsho’s whereabouts.
“Economy in Hand”
The United States has approved Foz, Hamsho and others to play important economic roles, including Assad’s most trusted adviser, Yasser Ibrahim.
Syrian analysts say about a dozen men constitute the commercial barons associated with the former regime. Government officials appointed by HTS believe all of these are people of interest.
Syrian authorities have ordered companies and factories belonging to or related to tycoons under the supervision of the HTS authorities to continue their work, while the committee investigates their various businesses.
“Our policy is to allow its employees to continue working on the market and supply goods to the market while freezing their currency flows,” Trade Minister Hasan told Reuters in a January interview.
“It’s a huge document. (Assad’s business allies) have a country’s economy. You can’t just tell them to leave.”
According to the source of knowledge direct knowledge, Hamsho International Group is supervised by HTS.
In late January, a Reuters visit showed little work was done at the modern multi-storey headquarters in Damascus, where some offices were robbed after Assad fell.
One employee said staff had been directed to work fully with the new Syrian government, and members who frequently visited companies for information said he asked not to identify by names.
Some economists say the country’s severe economic situation requires major domestic companies to continue operating regardless of who they are connected to.
The United Nations says 90% of Syrians live below the poverty line.
Although the shortage of basic commodities has eased after the disbandment of strict trade control after the Assad fall, many Syrians still have difficulty affording it.
“The Syrian authorities need to be wary of severe crackdowns on former regime relatives, as this could create a massive shortage of (commodities),” said Karam Shaar, director of the Syrian Economic Consulting firm named after him.
“The whole department”
According to two well-known people, Assad’s rapid decline, eventually fleeing to Russia on December 8, leaving behind many Syrian oligarchs with no time to dispose of or move their local assets, which were later frozen, This gives Syria’s new rulers a strong leverage to the powerful rulers in dealing with the Tycoons. Businessmen and government officials.
However, the lack of transparency in the HTS authorities is at the risk of dealing with tycoons and their businesses.
“The overall approach to these Assad regime cronies is not clear, it may depend on the actors and their support,” Shaar said.
Hamawiye has been appointed to deal with potential foreign investors and advise new ruling authorities on economic policy, acknowledging public concerns about the future of the regime-related businesses, the size and importance of these businesses. The sex is different.
He said ordinary businessmen were forced to pay bribes or work with the regime so they could play a role without being under the microscope of the new government.
But for a few who work with Assad and engage in illegal activities at the expense of the state, he said, the process will be different.
For example, Assad’s brother Maher said the United States had ties to Hamsho, a department that was once linked to the production of the later amphetamine-like drug captagon in the Fourth Division of the Syrian Army.
“Who will benefit if you beat (the business tycoon) or send it to jail? You need to work slowly, committees, information and investigations so that you can get as much justice as possible,” Hamawiye said.
Meanwhile, Zoubi maintains ties with some Syrian opposition groups and partnerships with Foz, who said he learned from his interactions with the new rulers how they seek “mediation”.
“I’m optimistic that the new government is not a personalized matter,” he said.
(Report by Timour Azhari in Damascus; Edited by Lisa Zhuca)
