In Holguín, as in most of the Island, private businesses are rapidly replacing dilapidated state-owned companies infrastructure.
HAVANA TIMES – They go from being premises with peeling facades to freshly painted ones, with bars on the windows and air conditioning inside. The process of leasing state-owned stores, offices, and warehouses to private interests in Holguín is spreading, as it is in Havana and other cities in Cuba. It takes place under the watchful eyes of residents who face the gradual privatization with expectations and doubts.
In front of the former vehicle workshop of the Comar Basic Economic Unit, belonging to the Holguín Fishing Company, on Friday morning a line of customers waited to enter. In the spacious warehouse on Aricochea Street, the clatter of tools is no longer heard, nor is the smell of grease and fuel that characterized the place.
Now, after a major renovation, the private business Obra Real is located there, with a wide assortment of food, hygiene products, and household items. In the line, some arrive for the first time at the restored property and are amazed. “I hardly recognized it, I used to pass by here frequently and this was a mess, it’s completely changed,” commented a man waiting to buy detergent told 14ymedio.
Obra Real has four locations in the city of Holguín and its catalog includes everything from La Estrella brand brown sugar packets, imported from Panama to fans that are recharged with small solar panels. “Prices are high, but right now I have to come here to buy flour because there is no bread in my bakery,” adds the man.
The bidding process for these private companies to rent state-owned premises still lacks promotion and transparency. “They told me they are renting space from the Copextel warehouses on Carretera Central Martí Street, in front of the Electric Company, but when I went to inquire, it had already been ‘awarded’ to the owner of several motorcycle repair shops,” an entrepreneur int
