Russian Foreign Ministry’s website published interview of the Russian Ambassador to Cuba Andrey Guskov with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
According to the Ambassador, “Over the past few months, we have signed a number of crucial bilateral agreements and contracts. When Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited Havana in October, Russian Railways and National Railway Company of Cuba signed a contract to rebuild and modernize Cuba’s railway infrastructure. The contract provides for overhauling and repairing over 1K kilometers of railway lines, the delivery of Russian rail equipment and the training of Cuban personnel. This project is strategically important for Cuba. It will take 10 years and will cost €1.9 bln. It is the largest international project that Russian Railways has.”
“Other documents signed during Dmitry Medvedev’s visit include agreements on the maintenance of airworthiness of the Russian-made aircraft of Cuba’s national airline, Cubana de Aviacion SA, and the delivery of a rolling machine for the Las Tunas steel mill. Zarubezhneft has launched a pilot project to enhance oil recovery at the Boca de Jaruco oilfield, which includes using Russia’s experience and know-how to drill Cuba’s first horizontal wells,” Guskov noted. “An additional protocol to an agreement on the manufacturing of four power units for the Maximo Gomez and East Havana thermal power plants was signed during the visit by President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel to Russia in late October. Other landmark projects include the construction of facilities for the assembly of Russian-made Ural and GAZ vehicles and PAZ buses. These will be the first plants to be built in Cuba with Russian assistance in the post-Soviet period.”
“There are plans to develop cooperation in nearly all sectors of the Cuban economy, in particular in the fields of the green economy, agriculture, light industry, scientific and technological cooperation, healthcare, biopharmaceuticals and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The latter project provides for building an irradiation centre in Cuba,” he continued. “Russian firms and companies are interested in expanding their contribution to the implementation of Cuba’s 2030 National Plan for Economic and Social Development, including in light of the 2019-2020 Opportunities Portfolio recently presented by Cuba. A whole range of Russian engineering products are being exported to Cuba: equipment for oil production, power generation, for smelting, as well as the KAMAZ, URAL, GAZ, and LADA vehicles, locomotives, railway cars and more.”
As the Ambassador pointed out, there are many economic projects on the island that are very attractive for foreign business, including in tourism, energy, transport, industry, information and communication technologies, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, pharmaceuticals and other fields. It is important to provide the opportunity for Russian companies to participate in them.