President Vladimir Putin confirmed the deferment for five years of the payment of the Cuban debt due to several credits granted by Russia, and that had been announced since February of this year.
With the signing on Saturday of a law that ratifies four protocols for Russian-Cuban intergovernmental loan agreements, the agreement was sealed, according to a publication on the legal information portal of that country cited by the agency Latin Press (PL).
Russia approves an extension until 2027 of the payment of credits granted to Cuba
The document had been ratified on May 24 by the State Duma (Lower House of Parliament) and on June 8 by the Russian Federation Council (Senate), according to this source.
also refers PL that the senators stressed that the extension of these agreements will allow aid to be provided to Havana for the financing of oil supplies and will contribute to strengthening Russia’s positions in Latin America.
Between 2006 and 2019, Russia provided Cuba with state export loans for an amount equivalent to 2.3 billion dollars, indicated the explanatory note on the new law, cited by PL.
Due to the difficult situation in the Caribbean country, caused by the tightening of the US embargo and the impact of the crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuba stopped paying the state loans provided by Russia since the beginning of 2020, and in September requested restructuring.
Cuba receives more than 19 thousand tons of wheat donated by Russia
After the request, write down PL, the parties signed on August 7, 2021 intergovernmental protocols to postpone them. The funds were granted to the Antillean nation to finance projects in the fields of energy, metallurgy, transport infrastructure and the supply of products to develop and support its economy.
Now the Government of Cuba will be able to liquidate the credits between this year and 2027.
Cuba and Russia have promoted their bilateral relationship in recent years and both define their association as “strategic.” In 2014, Moscow forgave 90% of the debt contracted by the Island, valued at 35.3 billion dollars.
Shortly before the invasion of Ukraine, Russian authorities discussed the possibility of deploying Russian military infrastructure on the island, without this intention being officially confirmed.
