Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko has held a working meeting with Vice-President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas to discuss bilateral trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation.

Russia and Cuba have a long-standing track record of maintaining constructive and trust-based relations. On 7 October, President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez during which the parties reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening ties between the two countries on a wide range of matters.

“It is a pleasure to note that our two countries have remained proactively involved with one another in this turbulent geopolitical environment, which reaffirms the allied nature of our bilateral relations. We view matters dealing with ensuring steady supplies of oil and petrochemicals, wheat and fertiliser as our priority considering their importance for Cuba. Offering preferences to Russian investors in the Cuban economy is another priority in terms of promoting bilateral relations. In this regard, the bilateral intergovernmental commission plays an instrumental role. We are looking forward to receiving a response to our proposal to hold the commission’s 21^st session in the second half of February 2024 in Moscow on the sidelines of the Rossiya (Russia) International Exhibition and Forum,” Dmitry Chernyshenko said.

In his remarks, Ricardo Cabrisas reaffirmed Cuba’s commitment to developing its cooperation with Russia.

“By working together we have been able to follow a coordinated approach. I am satisfied with the efforts we are currently undertaking,” Vice-President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba said.

He went on to speak in favour of the proposal to hold the intergovernmental commission’s meeting in February 2024 in Moscow.

The meeting’s agenda covered joint initiatives carried out by Russia and Cuba, such as projects to build solar power plants in Cuba, a full cycle agro-industrial complex for growing and processing sugar cane, producing fertiliser, and undertaking various infrastructure projects. Dmitry Chernyshenko emphasised the importance of stepping up bilateral ties in the energy sector.

In addition to this, efforts to promote tourism were also on the agenda. In the first six months of 2023, over 60,000 Russians travelled to Cuba, and the tourist flow has been steadily increasing with the launch of regular air services between the two countries on 1 July 2023. The Russian Ministry of Transport wants to increase the number of Russia-Cuba flights to up to 10 per week by the end of 2023.

Following the meeting, a programme for trade and economic cooperation until 2030 was signed. It provides for the expansion of trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, facilitating trade and investment, and strengthening ties between business associations by creating an enabling environment for promoting closer ties between Russian and Cuban companies.

Also taking part in the meeting were Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ Rights and Chair of the Russia-Cuba Business Council Boris Titov, representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Development and Ministry of Transport, as well as officials from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, the country’s Central Bank and Foreign Ministry.