EFE/14medio, MRussia and Cuba are preparing an intergovernmental agreement for Russia’s Rosneft to supply 1.64 million tons of oil and hydrocarbons annually to the Island, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said on Tuesday during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Mishustin.
The Prime Minister, who is on an official visit to Russia, commented that on Tuesday he spoke with directors of Rosneft, who informed him about the progress of the working group created to prepare the agreement between Havana and Moscow.
According to Marrero, this agreement seeks to guarantee the “stable supply” of oil to Cuba.
Marrero stressed the validity and importance of this agreement for his country and acknowledged that Cuba is experiencing difficulties with the supply of fuels.
Researcher Jorge Piñón, from the University of Texas, informed 14ymedio that the amount of oil that Havana is negotiating with Moscow (1,640,000 tons) is equivalent to 32,000 barrels per day.
“This will cover Cuba’s deficit of 90,000 barrels per day, assuming that Venezuela continues to deliver 57,000 barrels per day. At today’s prices, approximately $58 a barrel for Urals crude oil, the total value is about $676 million per year. How is this debt going to be paid?”
For his part, Mishustin, who meets for the second time with Marrero as part of his visit, stressed that Russia “considers the strengthening of friendship and partnership with Cuba as an unquestionable priority.”
The head of the Russian Government added that the cooperation between Moscow and Havana “has passed the test of time and repeatedly demonstrated its stability in the face of external challenges,” among which he cited the economic sanctions of the “unfriendly countries.”
Mishustin reported that both countries are working on the creation of a bilateral financial system of payments and have begun to trade based on national currencies, the ruble and the Cuban peso.
On Tuesday, the Cuban Prime Minister met with the former Russian president and vice president of the Russian Security Council, Dmitri Medvedev, to discuss bilateral cooperation, including the technical-military, transport, industry and investment spheres.
In particular, they talked about cultural and humanitarian cooperation and the scholarship program for Cuban students, as well as the creation of a special school for the teaching of the Russian language in Cuba.
Marrero, who has already participated in the intergovernmental council of the post-Soviet Eurasian Economic Union and has held meetings with senior Russian officials, plans to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum this week.
In the midst of an unprecedented rapprochement, Havana bets on the “generosity” of Moscow, which has already sent several loads of hydrocarbons. The Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, had already promised Manuel Marrero “the execution of large joint projects” in the oil field.
In this regard, Piñón stated in an interview with Radio Televisión Martí, last Wednesday, that Cuba lost one million barrels of storage during the fire in Matanzas and that, given the need to make space to store the 800,000 barrels of high-quality crude oil that arrived on the Island from Russia, it is likely that the loads of two of the oil tankers from Venezuela have been resold.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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