Syriatel

Stock performance

History

Syriatel was founded in 2000 and launched as one of Syria's two mobile operators, controlled by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of then-president Bashar al-Assad and one of the country's most powerful businessmen. Makhlouf, who was under Western sanctions, fell out with the government in 2020 and lost control of the company, and its ownership and management have been reshaped again by the political changes since the fall of the Assad government in December 2024.

Business model

Syriatel sells mobile voice and data services nationwide, with a network that suffered extensive damage during the civil war.

Market position

Syriatel is the larger of Syria's two mobile operators, ahead of MTN Syria.

Country impact

Syriatel was long one of the most profitable companies in Syria and a prominent symbol of the crony-capitalist networks around the former government, and its future ownership is part of the wider question of how Syria's post-Assad economy will be organized.