Madrid/Two weeks ago, Ricardo Cabrisas was dismissed as Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, but he is already back in Russia. The position he holds – vice prime minister – and the intense relationship with Moscow, forged through years of negotiation, are enough for him to lead the Cuban delegation, invited to the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024 (SPIEF), which begins this Wednesday, the 5th. June and will last until Saturday the 8th.
As reported by the official press, Cabrisas will hold meetings with authorities and businessmen to “achieve the effective participation of the Russian Federation in the National Economic and Social Development Plan of Cuba until 2030.”
Among the objectives, it is announced that of expanding and diversifying “the economic, commercial, financial and cooperation relations between Cuba and Russia, considered by the leaders of both countries as relations of allies”, a generic announcement without concrete news, beyond the many areas in which both countries are working, especially since 2022.
Among the objectives, it is announced that of expanding and diversifying “the economic, commercial, financial and cooperation relations between Cuba and Russia.”
The SPIEF, whose annual motto is “the basis of a multipolar world: formation of new points of growth”, will host 17,000 people and 136 countries, among which there are powers such as China or India and some oil states in the Middle East, but Asians, Africans, various Latin Americans and former Soviet republics predominate. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, long gone are the times when Nicolás Sarkozy or Angela Merkel walked through the event.
Despite this, Cabrisas will try not to miss the opportunity to attract business. That is why Cuba is among the largest delegations, since Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, head of Transportation, travels with the vice prime minister; Julio Garmendía Peña, ambassador in Moscow; Carlos Luis Jorge Méndez, first vice minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment; Ileana Núñez Mordoche, director of Europe at the Foreign Ministry; and Inalvis Bonachea González, director of trade policy in the region.
“It is not the first time that I have participated in the St. Petersburg forum. However, in the times that our countries are experiencing, this forum and our participation in it are of particular importance,” Cabrisas said in a meeting with the vice spokesperson of the Council of the Russian Federation, Konstantin Kosachev, according to the Tass agency.
“In the times that our countries are experiencing, this forum and our participation in it are of particular importance,” said Cabrisas.
Kosachev stressed that cooperation is active and that his country plans to continue supporting its “Cuban friends,” although even more important was his specification about Havana’s attitude, which he described as “constructive” when it came to “quickly resolving the tasks.” “deepening bilateral cooperation”. This aspect could be of vital importance for Moscow, which in 2019 canceled several investments on the Island, tired of its counterpart’s indolence, in addition to non-payments.
This Monday, Cabrisas also met with Grigori Karasin, head of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian Federation Council, Andrei Shevchenko, head of the cooperation group with the Cuban Assembly, and Senator Andrei Anatolyevich. But his agenda also has an important appointment, the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for economic-trade and scientific-technical relations, in which he will sit with his counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko to “review the fundamental issues served by this bilateral mechanism.”
Specifically, the participation of Cuban representatives in the next Women’s Forum, which will also be held in Saint Petersburg from September 18 to 20, 2024, and other sporting and cultural events, including the opening of a Russian Museum, was barely mentioned. In the Habana. However, it is likely that the parties will talk intensively about larger projects, including the continuation of Russian oil shipments, in a context of extreme energy need on the Island. In the same orbit is the transportation situation, where Russia has been investing for decades without yet tangible results for the population.
The parties are likely to talk intensively about larger projects, including the continuation of Russian oil shipments.
Other areas in which cooperation is advancing are in the financial sector – after the implementation of the Russian MIR cards – and tourism – which is moving forward on a good path, since last year more than 180,000 travelers from Russia arrived on the island. –, the industrial sector –where investments in sugar factories stand out, such as the Uruguay plant in Sancti Spíritus, or steel factories such as Antillana de Acero. There are also interests in the Cuban pharmaceutical industries, the purchase of Russian wheat and the possible leasing of usufruct lands on the Island, and even less is known about other more strategic cooperation, such as telecommunications and the military.
Cabrisas was only two months ago in Russia and, before that, in November 2023. The relationship is a priority, and this was confirmed by Miguel Díaz-Canel’s attendance at the last inauguration of Vladimir Putin as president, last May, in a time when the Island – immersed in an unprecedented crisis – needs a strong ally and Russia – evicted after starting a war in Ukraine – looks for its gateway to the American continent in Cuba.
