The Cuban government has imposed fines of 30 million pesos (1.25 million dollars at the official exchange rate for legal entities) in the “last five days” against an undetermined number of private companies for failing to comply with the price cap on six basic products, official media reported on Saturday.
The figure was announced by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, quoted by the official portal CubadebateAccording to the head of the Cuban government, the fines were imposed after 19,300 inspections were carried out, in which it was discovered that the limits were not met in 60% of them.
On July 8, a price cap on six basic products, including milk and chicken, came into effect.
The products with these limits in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are chicken, oil, sausages, powdered milk, pasta and detergent.
A kilo of cut chicken now costs a maximum of 680 pesos (5.6 dollars, at the official exchange rate for individuals); a litre of vegetable oil, except olive oil, costs 990 pesos (8.25 dollars); a kilo of sausage costs 1,045 pesos (8.7 dollars); a kilo of powdered milk costs 1,675 pesos (13.95 dollars); a kilo of pasta costs 835 pesos (6.95 dollars); and a kilo of detergent costs 630 pesos (5.25 dollars).
By comparison, the average state salary is 4,300 pesos ($35.8) and pensions are 1,500 pesos ($12.5).
In recent weeks, audio recordings of various meetings between businessmen and government representatives have been leaked in the independent press, in which the former expressed their dissatisfaction with the measure.
According to the leak, the owners of SMEs claimed that their prices were in line with the cost of importing their products and that the cap would end up harming their own customers.
According to Marrero, companies that did not comply were subject to measures such as “forced sales (of products that were above the established price), temporary withdrawal of the establishment’s operating license and confiscation” of the goods offered.
Vladimir Regueiro, Minister of Finance and Prices, said that fines for these cases vary between 5,000 (208 dollars) and 18,000 pesos (750).
On Friday, Miguel Díaz-Canel said at the closing session of parliament that “many” of the more than 11,000 small and medium-sized private companies (SMEs) legalized on the island since 2021 “did not respond to the trust of the State” and assured that, in that case, “law and order” will prevail.
