Two new fuel trading companies have emerged in Syria’s northwest, both of which are believed to be affiliated with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), highlighting the hardline Islamist group’s control over the sector.

The Syrian Insurance Company (SIC), the country’s largest and only state-owned insurer, says it has contracted with the Ministry of Defence to provide services for its clients at the ministry’s hospitals, in a new sign of the growing reach and influence of military-run companies.

A Russian firm is moving into Syria’s renewable energy sector after winning two licences to set up photovoltaic power stations last month, according to official documents seen by The Syria Report.

The Syrian government has contracted a Lebanese company to supply 150,000 tons of wheat after a number of Russian companies pulled out of import contracts, a government official said. The price was set at USD 285 per ton.

Cham Capital LLC, a brokerage firm partially owned by Rami Makhlouf, is preparing to close soon, according to a source in the brokerage sector, a move highlighting the ongoing toll of the spat between the government with one of Syria’s most prominent businessmen.