Moscow is considering sending 50 vehicles, 25 of which are the Moskvitch 3 fuel-powered models and another 25 Moskvitch 3e, which are fully electric.
14ymedio, Havana, 8 May 2025 — The last century uncomfortable Moskvitches which privately carry passengers around in Havana will soon have new competitors: Russian vehicles of the same make, but many years younger, sent by Russia. At least, that’s what Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, promised Miguel Díaz-Canel when he visited their car factory this week.
Last April, the Russian deputy prime minister, Dimitri Chernyshenko, promised the government it would help revive its worn-out public transport, and said, without the press revealing any details, they would send a fleet of Moskvitches. Now, Díaz-Canel went in person to review the deal which, as revealed by the Moscow mayor, intends delivering an initial consignment.
To start off, the mayor told the Cuban premier, they are talking about sending 50 vehicles, 25 petrol Moskvitch 3’s, and 25 completely electric Moskvtich 3e’s.
From sending them to maintaining them, installing the charging infrastructure, training the mechanics and drivers – first in Russia and later locally – all at the expense of the Kremlin, which has created a joint company with the island to manage the taxi fleet. In view of the inability of the Cuban economy to keep even its own fleet going, it will be Russia which guarantees “the uninterrupted working of the electric vehicles”.
“I hope these cars will grace the streets of Havana and make it more comfortable to move around your wonderful city”
In the future, the mayor said, I hope that the number of Moskvitches – which will be added to the depleted Cuban fleet – will be able to serve most of Havana’s population and the 150,000 Russian tourists who visit the capital on routes between Havana and Varadero.
“I hope these cars will grace the streets of Havana and make it more comfortable to move around your wonderful city,” Sobyanin said.
Modern, spacious and brightly coloured, the new Moskvitches have little in common with those still in circulation on the island, relics of the Soviet subsidy era. The fact that it is Russia that provides them out of its political interest in Cuba, and with hardly any benefits in return, is the real point in common between the old and the new vehicles.
Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged the widespread use of Moskvitches in the country, especially from the 60s to the 90s, although they have been getting fewer due to the lack of parts to repair them and the obsolescence that comes with decades of use and their poor gas mileage.
“The employees of this plant can be proud of the high quality of their products, as these old cars from that era are still on the streets of Cuba. This is due, of course, to the high build quality and to the creativity and ingenuity of the Cuban mechanics,” he said.
The president himself left the factory with a gift that would make many Cubans jump for joy: a gift voucher for 10 Moskvitch 6’s.
In terms of transport, Cuba depends almost exclusively on what other countries are able to give away and on companies willing to import vehicles. The total lack of money and resources is shown by the new process introduced by Salud Pública and MVC Comercial, an importer of vehicles for both state and private companies.
Months ago, the press announced that the institution would start renting MVC’s imported German Mercedes-Benz ambulances instead of acquiring its own transport. Some 60 days after putting the service to the test, Granma reports that the results are promising: the response time of the emergency system, for example, has been reduced from an outrageous 31 minutes in 2024 to 18 in the last two months, and emergency services from 43 to 16.
According to this management model, it is the drivers who are responsible for the condition of the ambulances, which, the health authorities stressed, “has had a positive impact on their care and sustainability”.
MCV, however, is worried about the government’s inability to pay for its services. “To be able to restock with new equipment and expand, it is essential that the payments come in and we are able to get the funding,” said a company official, adding that good management could lead to an expansion of the ambulance fleet in the capital or its expansion to other provinces.
But Public Health claimed that payments in freely convertible currency (LCM) and pesos to the company are “up to date”. But, apart from not clarifying whether they owe other invoices in foreign currency, it reminded MCV that payments “have the normal financial problems caused by the blockade”.
Translated by GH
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