LONDON, March 6. /TASS/. The UK government has lifted sanctions that were imposed on a number of Syrian banks, including the country's central bank, as well as oil companies, according to the document posted on the website of HM Treasury.
The oil companies removed from the blacklist are Al Furat, Deir Ez-Zur, Dijla, Ebla, General Petroleum Corporation, Mahrukat, Overseas Petroleum Trading, Syria Trading Oil Company (Sytrol), Syrian Company for Oil Transport, Syrian Petroleum Company, as well as The Homs Refinery Company and The Baniyas Refinery Company.
Sanctions against Syrian Arab Airlines, as well as eight banks, including the Industrial Bank and the Commercial Bank of Syria, have been lifted.
In total, 24 items added to the sanctions list for Syria between 2011 and 2014 were removed.
Last month, the UK Foreign Office announced that it would lift some of the sanctions against Syria after the change of power in the republic. It announced the easing of restrictions in the energy, transport and financial sectors, as well as measures to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid to the country's population.
In late November 2024, armed opposition groups launched a large-scale offensive against the positions of the Syrian army. On December 8, 2024, they entered Damascus, Bashar al-Assad resigned as President of Syria and left the country. In late January 2025, the new Syrian authorities announced that the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia) Ahmed al-Sharaa would serve as acting president of the country during the transitional period.