Russia Sends Cuba 253 Tons of Oil and 430 of Tons of Wheat Flour

Paolo Mattei, said that this type of assistance “strengthens the capacity of the Cuban people to respond to emergency situations.”(EFE)

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EFE / 14ymedio, Havana, 23 April 2021 — On Thursday, Cuba received a donation of food sent by Russia through the representation of the World Food Program (WFP) on the island, at a time of serious problems with supplies on the island.

The donation, which includes 253 tons of oil and 430 tons of wheat flour, is valued at one million dollars according to the official press and will go to more than 77,000 people who receive assistance through the Family Attention System (SAF) , which provides food services to the elderly, disabled and cases of insufficient income or those without family to support them.

The Russian ambassador in Havana, Andrei A. Guskov, said in the delivery ceremony that this aid is a reflection of the friendship and solidarity long maintained between the two nations and that similar shipments can be expected throughout the current year, according to the state Cuban News Agency (ACN).

The WFP representative, Paolo Mattei, said that this type of assistance “strengthens the capacity of the Cuban people to respond to emergency situations such as the current global epidemiological crisis, which has an impact on the food security of nations.”

The shortage of food and basic products in Cuba has worsened in the last year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, already suffering from a chronic crisis due to structural deficiencies and the tightening of the sanctions of the embargo applied by the government from the United States to the Island.

Last year Russia donated 5 million dollars — also through the WFP — to support sustainable nutrition in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, destined to some 16,200 people among them primary school children and older adults of the eastern region of Cuba.

In recent years, Cuba and Russia have given impetus to their bilateral relationship to reestablish the close cooperation that they maintained before the disappearance of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991, with the signing of new economic cooperation agreements.

Russia is one of Cuba’s top ten trading partners.

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