14ymedio, Havana, 14 March 2024 — Being a key partner and reliable ally of the Kremlin has its advantages. Cuba knows this well all too well. During an intergovernmental meeting in the Russian capital on Friday, Russia committed to prioritizing “the supply of hydrocarbons, wheat and fertilizers” as part of its alliance with the island.
Cuba’s state news agency, Prensa Latina, reported that the Cuban delegation, headed by Minister of Foreign Commerce Ricardo Cabrisa, was informed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Chernishenko that the island would be receiving new loans intended to “guarantee the stable supply of oil, petroleum products, wheat and fertilizers, an issue that is extremely important to Cuba.”
The high-level meeting, which the news agency described as “plenary” in nature, was preceded by meetings of seventeen working groups that make up the Cuban-Russian intergovernmental commission. “With no other partner country in Latin America does Russia have such a long and diverse experience in the commercial and economic sphere as with Cuba,” Chernishenko stated. “We value the special nature of bilateral relations, which are not affected by external conditions.”
Chernishenko revealed that roughly a hundred Russian companies have been operating in Cuba since 2003 and that they have made significant economic investments in the country
The Russian official revealed that roughly a hundred Russian companies have been operating in Cuba since 2003 and that they have made significant investments in heavy industry, energy, banking, agriculture, information technology and tourism. He added that several Russian banks will be opening branches on the island in the future.
Jorge Piñón, a senior research fellow at the University of Texas and former oil industry executive, has no doubts about the significance of this event: Russia is c
