Enab Baladi – Muhammad al-Ali
For about three years, the Syrian regime government has sought to promote the use of renewable energies instead of traditional electricity, in light of its inability to secure it due to a shortage of its oil and gas resources.
In this promotional framework, the government announced the provision of interest-free loans for a repayment period of up to 15 years, primarily targeting employees in the public sector. Although some loans are granted to ordinary citizens or private sector employees, the conditions are difficult and many may not be able to meet them.
Applicants for these loans complain about the prevalence of favoritism and bribes, and the necessity of relying on connections to push the loan application through the relevant authorities, in addition to the manipulation by companies contracted with banks to provide solar energy means for borrowers.
The most prominent of these loans was announced by the Popular Credit Bank last February, in cooperation with the Renewable Energy Support Fund, where the ceiling for the household sector loan reaches 35 million Syrian pounds (about $2,350), for a period not exceeding 15 years.
As for the required documents, they focus on providing proof of income for the loan applicant and the guarantors, along with acceptable guarantees, allowing personal guarantees from permanent state workers or economic activity owners for loans up to 25 million Syrian pounds.
For loans exceeding 25 million Syrian pounds, the guarantee must be in-kind, the most important of which is real estate collateral.
Selectivity and interest
Zuhair (35 years old), a contracted employee with the Mill Authority in Aleppo, stated that he applied for a solar energy loan after learning about its existence from his colleagues.
He mentioned that to obtain the loan, merely submitting a request within the institution where he works is not enough, but he needs a connection to push the request to the Popular Credit Bank. From there, he must also mediate to expedite the request and prioritize it, then the file moves between the electricity directorate and the bank in a routine transaction that requires payment of bribes to minor employees to expedite the file’s completion.
Ultimately, the applicant receives a notice from the bank confirming the acceptance of his application, and he then heads to one of the contracted solar energy companies with the bank, of which there are no more than five in Aleppo, chooses one of them, and makes an agreement about the number of panels, battery size, and cost.
The bank then transfers the amount to the company’s account, although the process often takes longer than necessary. Meanwhile, these companies allow borrowers to return the amount in cash with a deduction of about seven million pounds from it, in addition to offering to change the battery size or type and compensating the borrower financially while maintaining a percentage for the company, according to Zuhair.
While the bank claims the loan is interest-free, Zuhair clarified that he paid an amount of 1.5 million pounds under the title of “bank commission,” while the repayment starts with an initial installment of 600,000 Syrian pounds, followed by monthly installments of 111,000 pounds over 15 years, totaling 19 million and 980 thousand pounds.
The process of installing the panels also sees manipulation by electricity directorate employees regarding meeting the conditions, especially concerning the buildings’ safety and the feasibility of installing the panels on their roofs, a problem that began to be noticed after the earthquake on February 6, 2023.
Suspension of solar energy loans
The provision of solar energy loans is not limited to the Popular Credit Bank but also includes other government banks, most notably the Commercial Bank of Syria, where there are also other types of loans for different categories under various conditions.
While the promotion for the loans was at its peak, government banks announced in May 2024 that they would stop granting loans, citing the accumulation of applications.
The Popular Credit Bank issued a circular requesting the Renewable Energy Support Fund to refrain from sending loan requests for two months starting from May 15, in order to grant loans without any delay due to the accumulation of requests sent from the fund to the bank.
Two months after that circular, the loan application doors did not reopen as the bank promised, and no circular was issued to resume receiving requests from the Renewable Energy Fund until October 20, according to Ibrahim Haj Shaaban, director of the Popular Credit Bank branch in the Aziziyah area of Aleppo, as stated to the local al-Jamahir newspaper.
On October 22 of last year, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers issued a decision to reduce the repayment period for loans granted for installing photovoltaic systems or wind turbines for the household sector to ten years instead of fifteen years.
Aleppo suffers from a poor electricity situation, with no organized schedule defining the timing of electricity availability and cuts, which can reach six hours at best.
For years, large power generators have invaded Aleppo neighborhoods, and their tangled wires extending to almost every home have become a defining feature of the city from east to west, with the price of electricity per ampere reaching a minimum of 70,000 Syrian pounds weekly.
Many services are linked to electricity, such as communication, which is disrupted during power cuts, especially at night, in addition to the interruption of some government institutions’ operations during rationing, along with the challenges students face when studying in the evening.
The minimum salary for government employees in regime-controlled areas is about 279,000 Syrian pounds (18 USD).
Government trend
For three years, it has become clear that the Syrian regime is moving towards initiating renewable energy projects after the government has exhausted all methods of providing electrical power, following losses of billions incurred due to most electrical circuits being out of service.
In July 2022, the Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad issued a law endorsing Syria’s membership in the Framework Agreement on the establishment of the International Solar Alliance (the International Solar Alliance is an international governmental organization led by India, first announced at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015).
Last May, the Economic Committee in the Council of Ministers recommended imposing a tax on imported solar panels worth $25 for each panel (370,000 Syrian pounds), citing the need to “support, encourage, and protect national industries, especially in the modern technological sectors.”
It noted that the recommendation aims to localize the manufacturing of import alternatives, reduce pressure on foreign exchange, rationalize its consumption, and create a conducive environment for expanding these industries towards self-sufficiency and exporting surplus, and seeking to enhance public-private partnership experiences.
In July 2023, the Investment Authority in the regime government granted an investment license for a solar panel manufacturing project in the industrial city of Adra, with an estimated cost exceeding 81 billion Syrian pounds and a production capacity of up to 150,000 panels annually.
According to the authority, the project aims to produce high-quality solar panels at competitive prices that meet the increasing local demand and reduce the quantities imported, with expectations that the project will provide 53 new job opportunities.