Of the 1,700 state-owned companies that Cuba has, 480 closed 2022 with losses, although only 87 were expected to do so and 83 are projected to do so this year, which already makes one fear the worst. In Ciego de Ávila, specifically, only 21 lost more than 600 million pesos in 2022, although the forecast was for six, according to a special published this Saturday in the local press. In addition, of the 80 companies in the province, 41 defaulted on their net sales.
Among those that are bleeding to death is Agroindustrial Ceballos, one of the most successful companies for years on the Island and which already in 2021 entered the red and it was estimated that it had to do without up to 800 workers. This recently ended year ended with 69 million losses.
La Cuba still beats him, another one that is no longer new to appear on the list despite its “historical splendor”, which lost 73 million pesos, leading the list. In his case, the rotten potato due to the rains and the lack of fertilizers had an influence, but, above all, that “to obtain a peso they must spend more than four”, according to Susivey Márquez Toledo, a Provincial Government specialist, who warns that it is necessary to review which productions are maintained and which are not, because it is impossible to continue like this. The report reveals that even the bananas that it sold to the tourism sector left losses due to indirect costs that were not taken into account and that Tourism paid them below what was necessary.
The report reveals that even the bananas that it sold to the tourism sector left losses due to indirect costs that were not taken into account and that Tourism paid them below what was necessary
The text denounces that one of the causes of losses is centralized planning. The Poultry Company has lost 29 million pesos trying to avoid it, justifies its director, Leyda Martínez Arnáez, who had already warned months ago that the cost per egg of the approved plan was almost 2 pesos or even 3, so how many the more they contributed to the State, the more money they lost. The director explains that there was no alternative, because changing the cost sheet and adjusting the plans, the only option, is not among her powers, but is set by Havana.
The Chambas Agricultural Company regrets a similar situation for which it has lost 26 million.”The real count of the cattle made them realize that the numbers, with their plans, said one thing, and they, in the pastures, had another: 2,000 head of cattle less, on which their value at the slaughterhouse was calculated or the price of the 550 liters of milk that each absent cow had to give”, states the report, which reproaches the company for not having made plans adjusted to reality.
The extensive note dwells on the history of Alimentaria, which had to diversify its activities to contain losses, a forced path that allowed them to cut their losses from 34 million pesos to 14 million, although 300 workers left the entity “tired of earn a little more than 2,000 pesos a month”. Its new director, Rafael Pina Jova, already plans to return to heavy losses. Between January 1 and 13, all the bakeries and sweet shops in the province were paralyzed due to lack of raw materials, until that Friday flour production began with the cassava that arrived.
“And so you think we are going to fulfill the plans, generate income or have no losses? I see myself sitting at the February meeting, again in the group of companies with losses, where the one who did not supply the sugar will not be sitting or flour or fuel…”, protests the manager. Pina Jova adds that in order to comply with what is being asked of him, he would need to have his own production, because not even cassava, which has been planted in large quantities on the island, reaches him due to unaffordable prices. By 2023, they already expect to lose about 300 employees.
The official also remembers how he partnered with the Beverage and Soft Drinks Company (Ember) to sell vinegarso that with guava and tomato seeds, with frutabomba and donkey banana from Alimentaria, the product that is marketed in Ember’s knobs is manufactured.
“I see myself sitting at the February meeting, again in the group of companies with losses, where the one who did not supply sugar or flour or fuel will not be sitting…”
The only company that survives from this “sad saga”, as the newspaper itself calls Invasive to the situation, it is Porcino, who has reversed the bad numbers by dedicating himself to other activities, including the “breeding” of beehives. According to the newspaper, although many lament the lack of pork, they must understand that while the feed and pre-fattening arrive, the company must survive.
Yusmey Hidalgo Rodríguez, deputy director of Work Organization and Compensation in the province, reproaches that many companies do not want to do the same. “More than 40 companies do not apply secondary activities; that is, they continue with a single activity, despite the need to increase income, also to distribute profits,” he laments.
In addition, the official regrets that others have not adopted the measure of defining the salary of employees, a possibility that those who “do not plan losses, record profits, contribute by return on investment and have reliable accounting” can take advantage of. The Provincial Supply and Education Services Company is one of the 14 that have decided to apply this incentive and has gone from 10 to 100 million pesos in benefits. But cases like this are a drop in the ocean.
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