MOSCOW, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russia will finish the fundamental renovation at its naval logistics base in the Syrian port of Tartus by 2011, said the Navy's General Staff on Wednesday.

    Having been upgrading the Tartus port for several years, the Navy's General Staff said in a statement that "the main purpose is to develop logistics...to upgrade the existing coastal infrastructures and create new ones that will provide convenient moorage and stable supply for Russian ships pulling into Tartus with fuel, water, food and other supplies."

    "The bulk of the works is to be completed in 2011," said the statement.

    The Navy's General Staff also said that its fleet already had a functioning logistics facility at Tartus, whose condition and capabilities fell short of requirements.

    "The task is to convert it into an up-to-date coastal facility capable of furnishing all the necessary conditions for full-fledged deployment of individual ships and groups of ships of our Navy," said the statement.

    The Tartus logistics base once provided material and technical supplies for Soviet Navy. According to the Itar-Tass news agency, Russia did not exclude the possibility of building naval logistic facilities in Socotra Island, Yemen, as well as in Tripoli, Libya, but for now, the choice is limited to Tartus.