Russian grain exporters do not plan to unilaterally stop supplying wheat to Syria amid political turmoil there, Eduard Zernin, head of the Russian Grain Producers and Exporters Union, said on Monday

Russia is a major supplier of wheat to Syria, where rebels seized capital Damascus, ending the rule of Bashar al-Assad and ousting him as president. Assad fled to Moscow after a lightning rebel offensive.

“Russian grain exporters do not plan to unilaterally terminate their obligations under concluded contracts,” Zernin said.

Zernin estimated Syria’s imports at about 2 million metric tons of wheat per year. A disruption of Russian wheat supplies could risk hunger in the country of over 23 million people.

“Syria is not a key consumer for us, but it is a decent market with a capacity of about 2 million tons of wheat per year,” he said.

IKAR consultancy’s Dmitry’s Rylko estimated wheat exports to Syria at 300,000 tons so far this season with the country ranking 24th among Russian wheat buyers.

Zernin said that Russian exporters would work with the Syrian side to resolve wheat supply payments and outstanding debt issues. Russia has previously issued loans to Syria to enable it to pay for wheat imports.

(Reuters)