Havana/During the tour carried out by Cuban Vice Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas in search of financing for Cuba’s Development Plan until 2030, at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024 (SPIEF), it was reported that exports of agroindustrial products from Russia to Cuba doubled last year, compared to 2022.
According to official data, trade between Russia and Cuba in 2022 amounted to 451 million dollars, although Moscow intended to improve that number the following year. Most of the trade was agricultural, although the Russians also invested in construction and tourism.
According to the official press, the Russian Minister of Agriculture, Oksana Lut, indicated that Moscow considers that it is possible to further expand sales to the Island. Lut assured that her country has all the necessary resources to “guarantee food security.” of the Cuban State.
“Russia and Cuba are historically linked by close relations. Not only is political dialogue developing, but economic-trade cooperation is also gaining momentum,” Lut added.
“Russia and Cuba are historically linked by close relations. “Not only political dialogue is developing”
For Cuba it is important to attract some business on the Cabrisas tour and that is why it is among the largest delegations at the forum. It is made up of Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, head of Transportation; 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.
Last Monday, Cabrisas 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 ahead, with the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for economic-trade and scientific-technical relations, in which he will sit next to his counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, to “review to the fundamental issues addressed by this bilateral mechanism.”
Other areas in which Cuba seeks to secure support is in the financial field, in tourism, the industrial sector, the purchase of Russian wheat and the possible lease of land in usufruct on the Island. Added to these are the Cuban pharmaceutical sector, such as investment announced this Friday for 11.3 million dollars in the state company BioCubaFarma.
This visit takes place within the framework of the announcement of the sending of warships from Moscow to Havana next week, at a time when the Island is desperately looking for a partner to help it overcome an unprecedented economic crisis and, in return , offers Russia a platform to challenge Washington in its own zone of influence.
