Havana/“Developing an independent financial infrastructure,” capable of avoiding United States sanctions, is the main purpose of Novikombank, the first Russian bank on the Island. This was stated by Serguei Baldin, head of the Russian commercial office in Havana, who presented the bank’s objectives during its inauguration ceremony last Thursday at the Meliá Cohiba hotel.
“The presence here of Novikombank offers hope to fulfill development projects and investments in various spheres in the future and offers confidence to the Russian business community to operate in Cuba,” said the official in front of a delegation of businessmen invited from both countries and the deputy prime minister. Cuban Ricardo Cabrisas, who has led the approach to the Kremlin in recent years. For Havana, the financial entity – connected to the Kremlin’s largest state corporation, Rostec – is a direct corridor through which businessmen, investments and many rubles will enter.
Cabrisas dedicated many words to the friendship between the two countries and attributed the arrival of Novikombank to the “consensus reached between presidents Vladimir Putin and Miguel Díaz-Canel.” Furthermore, he described the alliance as a victory against the United States’ “persecution” of the Cuban banking sector, whose most obvious expression – he considered – is the inclusion of the Island on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, drawn up by the State Department. .
Cabrisas highlighted that the aim is to attract foreign capital “without selling the country”, a risk that, he believes, is not taken with Russia.
Aware of the existence of a current of opinion within the Cuban regime that considers the rapprochement between Havana and Moscow dangerous, Cabrisas highlighted that it seeks to attract foreign capital “without selling the country”, a risk that, he considers, is not taken with Russia. .
Regarding Novikombank’s plans, the deputy prime minister assures that both governments play a key role: Havana, as a facilitator, must offer incentives to the Russian business community, and Moscow, which has the mission of “supporting” the interests of said sector, although it was not clarified what type of help and perks they were referring to.
Clues about the functioning of the financial entity have been offered by the Russian side. In a statement cited by Sputnik, The president of the Board of Directors of Novikombank, Elena Georgieva, explained that this is just the first step in banking relations between both countries, and that it is expected that other entities will begin to establish themselves on the Island very soon.
Georgieva commented on the speed of the Cuban side in allowing the establishment of the financial institution – much earlier than projected – with which three banking entities on the Island have worked for eight years. Last March, when Cabrisas traveled to Moscow as part of an intergovernmental commission for economic-commercial and scientific-technical collaboration, conversations about Novikombank began. A month later, in April, the Central Bank of Cuba granted the company an operating license and this June the inauguration of its headquarters – whose address remains undisclosed – was already a fact.
“This is a very important event for Russian-Cuban cooperation, which we believe will continue to actively develop. Our initial task here is to guarantee stable payments between the two countries,” explained Georgieva, who underlined the special interest in this alliance of Putin, who, she added, “pays special attention to strengthening cooperation with the Republic of Cuba.”
“The opening of our representative office can contribute both in terms of advice and financing of various projects and areas of activity,” said the director, who insisted that other banks would also approach Havana, which will contribute to the “development of collaboration.”
The idea was repeated last Thursday at the Meliá Cohiba by the head of the Russian commercial office, who assured that “the plans are becoming a reality”, thanks to Russia’s involvement in key areas of the Cuban economy such as energy, industry basic, metallurgy, transportation, agriculture, pharmaceutical products and tourism. According to him, these investments have been the basis for Russian banks to establish themselves in Cuba and expand their activities in the future.
These investments have been the basis for Russian banks to establish themselves in Cuba and expand their activities in the future.
The ties with Novikombank mark the concretion of relations between Cuba and the gigantic state conglomerate Rostec, responsible for the arrival on the Island of a shipment of 15,000 LED lights last March or the modern Ural trucks that the Armed Forces have deployed in several occasions in the streets of the capital.
Rostec, created in 2007 by Putin, is a corporation designed to control from the State all key sectors of the Russian economy, starting with civil engineering and medicine to the high-tech war industry. In fact, the conglomerate is especially known for its helicopters and weapons of war, very popular in the international market. Another of the sectors that Rostec controls is the oil sector, an area in which the Island is particularly interested.
Cuba has been preparing for months for the opening of Russian banking and last December it implemented the use of Mir cards, an alternative to Visa and Mastercard for Russian tourists and businessmen, created to evade sanctions.
Relations between Havana and the Kremlin have experienced intense days in recent weeks – since Putin’s re-election – with the visit of Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez to Moscow, the arrival of a Russian flotilla in Havana – including a nuclear submarine and a tanker with a capacity of 9,000 tons – and now the establishment of a definitive channel so that money between Russia and Cuba flows without sanctions.
