MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. Russia should help Syria clean up an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea since the European Union is in no hurry to provide assistance for political reasons, Alexei Knizhnikov, head of the business environmental responsibility program at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Russia, told TASS.

"Russia provided great assistance to the Mediterranean countries in extinguishing forest fires. The scale of the consequences of pollution in Syria also deserves assistance at the intergovernmental level in eliminating the consequences of sea oil spills, removing fuel oil from the coast and sea surface. Experience shows that this can be done quickly and efficiently. The European Union won’t help Syria due to political disagreements while Russia has the experience and means to do so," Knizhnikov said.

According to WWF and RiskSat space monitoring data, 15,000 tonnes of fuel oil spilled into the sea from a power plant in the Syrian city of Baniyas on August 23. The spill was caused by the depressurization of a fuel storage tank. According to official statements, the tank contained 12,000 cubic meters of fuel, according to other sources — 15,000 cubic meters. The oil slick has covered a vast area along the coast of Syria and westward to Cyprus in a maximum area of up to 800 square kilometers and also polluted the coast of Latakia.

According to the data received from WWF and RiskSat computer simulations, 40% of the initial volume of oil products evaporated, 14% drifted on the sea surface, 44% ended up on the Syrian coast, and the rest dissolved.