Moscow doubled its agro-industrial exports to the Island in 2023
14ymedio, Havana, 8 June 2024 — During the tour carried out by Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas in search of funding for the Development Plan of Cuba until 2030, at the International Economic Forum of St. Petersburg 2024 (SPIEF), it was reported that exports of agro-industrial products from Russia to Cuba doubled last year, compared to 2022.
According to official data, the 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 believes that it is possible to further expand sales to the Island. Lut assured that her country has all the necessary resources to “guarantee the food security of the Cuban State.”
For Cuba it is important to attract business on Cabrisas’ tour, and this is why it is among the largest delegations to the forum
“Russia and Cuba are historically united by close relations. Not only is political dialogue developing, but economic-commercial cooperation is also gaining momentum,” Lut added.
For Cuba it is important to attract business on Cabrisas’ tour, and this is why it is among the largest delegations to the forum. It includes Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, head of Transport; Julio Garmendía Peña, ambassador to Moscow; Carlos Luis Jorge Méndez, first deputy minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment; Ileana Núñez Mordoche, director of Europe for the Foreign Ministry, and Inalvis Bonachea González, director of commercial policy in the region.
Last Monday, Cabrisas met with Grigori Karasin, head of the International Affairs Committee of the Council of the Russian Federation; 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-Commercial and Scientific-Technical Relations, which he will attend with his counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, to “review the fundamental issues addressed by this bilateral mechanism.”
Other areas in which Cuba seeks to secure support involve financing, tourism, the industrial sector, the purchase of Russian wheat and the possible lease of land in usufruct on the Island. To these is added the Cuban pharmaceutical sector, with the announcement this Friday of an investment of 11.3 million dollars in the state company BioCubaFarma.
This visit takes place as part 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. In return, offers Russia a platform to challenge Washington in its own area of influence.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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