Reuters reported about 26 tons of gold remaining in the vault of the Central Bank of Syria

In the vault of the Central Bank of Syria after the rule of former President Bashar al-Assad remained almost 26 tons of gold, which is equal to the same figure as in 2011. This was reported by Reuters on December 16, citing Syrian officials.

It is specified that in currency equivalent the value of this reserve is $2.2 billion. At the same time, the country has only a small amount of foreign currency reserves in cash.

It is noted that the vault is protected from explosions. To open it requires three keys, each of which belongs to a different person, including a code combination.

In the next Syria: what awaits the republic after extremists take over Damascus

The family of President Bashar al-Assad, who fled the country, has been received by Russian Federation

Earlier, December 11, the head of the transitional government of Syria Mohammed al-Bashir said that the Syrian economy is in critical condition due to the almost complete absence of foreign currency in circulation.

On December 8, political scientist, orientalist, author of the Telegram channel "Eastern Gate" Andrei Ontikov told Izvestia that it is difficult to make forecasts on the situation in Syria, as there are several possible scenarios. According to him, the first scenario implies that the country will plunge into chaos, following the example of Libya, and Syria may become lost for years.

On the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad left his post after negotiations with the opposition and left the country, instructing to carry out the transfer of power peacefully. Russia later confirmed that Assad and his family had arrived in Moscow.

The situation in Syria escalated as a result of a major attack by armed formations in Aleppo and Idlib, which began on November 28 and led to the Syrian army's retaliation against the militants.