RUSSIA, March 15 - Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment co-chaired the 21^st meeting of the Russian-Cuban Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, in Moscow.

“Cuba is a reliable Russia’s ally. President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Cuba Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel have repeatedly emphasised the importance of developing the strategic partnership between our countries. Today’s meeting confirms the policy of strengthening Russian-Cuban relations,” Mr Chernyshenko said.

 At the plenary session of the commission, the participants discussed the status of and the prospects for developing cooperation in bilateral trade and investment, industry, energy, transport, tourism, construction, healthcare, agriculture, communications, customs, science, education, culture and sports.

 “We have established a rhythmical and candid dialogue with our Cuban partners across the entire spectrum of our cooperation in trade, economic, investment, scientific, educational, cultural and humanitarian areas. Last year, we did much to intensify the drafting of joint projects. Industrial and energy projects form the traditional foundation of our interaction,” Mr Chernyshenko said.

In turn, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz noted that last year was a turning point in Russian-Cuban cooperation. He said, “Foundations were laid for the effective and mutually beneficial participation of Russian businesses in implementing Cuba’s national plan for socio-economic development until 2030. Today, we are looking with optimism at the future relations between our countries. We are allies and strategic partners. Our relations have become much stronger in the past few years. That said, now is not the time to rest. We must achieve specific results, considering our countries’ urgent needs and the development prospects we share.”

The sides noted that last year they signed an agreement on encouraging the participation of domestic investors in Russian-Cuban projects on Cuban territory.

“This allowed us to launch a new model for interaction between our countries in project-investment, trade and economic spheres. Over the past year, more than 100 Russian companies representing different economic sectors, including heavy industry, energy, banking, agriculture, information technology and others, joined in our work with Cuba,” Mr Chernyshenko said. “We offered our Cuban partners best Russian practices for introducing digital systems for tax assessment and collection. The introduction of these systems is included in our joint plan of trade and economic cooperation until 2030,” he added.

“Working together with our Cuban partners, we have created a new contractual legal framework for expanding cooperation in different areas,” said Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Vladimir Ilyichev. “On the one hand, Russian businesses were granted preferential terms for working in Cuba, on the other hand, the potential was created for the modernisation of the Cuban economy and its subsequent comprehensive development,” he summed up.

Mr Ilyichev recalled that the headquarters for coordinating and ensuring the implementation of Russian-Cuban investment projects was established at the VEB.RF, at the initiative of the Russian Government.

“During the meeting of the working group on trade and economic cooperation and priority projects, we agreed to establish a similar structure in Cuba. To streamline the implementation of investment projects, the headquarters has compiled a roadmap with a list of technical issues for our Cuban partners,” Ilyichev said.

During the commission meeting, the parties also noted success in the tourism industry. In 2023, the number of Russian tourists in Cuba amounted to 185,000 people, which exceeded pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, the full-scale launch of the Mir payment card system took place in Cuba.

Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz said that Cuba believes it necessary to consider the possibility of issuing the Mir payment cards by Cuban banks. “We need to ensure the effective operation of Mir cards in Cuba and consider with our Russian partners the possibility of issuing these cards by Cuban banks,” he said.

At the end of the meeting, the parties signed five agreements in various fields, including education, geological prospecting and healthcare.

The Intergovernmental Commission meeting was attended by representatives of the relevant Russian and Cuban departments and companies implementing joint projects in various areas of mutual interest.