Madrid/Until last Saturday it was not known that the National Bank of Cuba (BNC) had appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom the ruling favorable to the investment fund CRF I Limited, which claims a debt of more than 72 million euros. The Miami channel Telemundo 51 announced on Saturday that the appeal was filed on December 18 and that the creditor sent a letter to Miguel Díaz-Canel proposing an agreement – whose acceptance deadline expired this Sunday. to settle the matter, renouncing judicial avenues.
“We write to you with disappointment to point out that your legal representatives are continuing with this matter before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom,” the document begins. In the text, the fund recalls that so far Justice has ruled in its favor and that, although the appeal is clearly legitimate, “it seems to serve little purpose, beyond prolonging the process, increasing costs for all parties and leave Cuba’s access to international financial markets severely restricted.”
“It appears to serve little purpose, beyond prolonging the process, increasing costs for all parties and leaving Cuba’s access to international financial markets severely restricted.”
In order to obtain what is claimed, CRF makes an offer to resolve the claim quickly – although emphasizing that it trusts that the courts would again agree with it – which appears in an attached document. According to Telemundo 51, the pact essentially consists of the immediate credit of 40 million pounds into a British account determined by the fund and the creation of a new loan mechanism that allows the remaining amount to be restructured without interest for five years.
In the letter, CRF warns that with the arrival of Donald Trump to the United States presidency “the global landscape is likely to change, potentially closing the current window of opportunity for a negotiated agreement.” The fund asked Díaz-Canel to reflect on the proposal and make, if deemed appropriate, a counteroffer as part of a negotiation to close the situation as soon as possible. In addition, the Cuban president was asked to designate a contact to carry out the talks if he agreed, insisting that the pact should be closed on January 19, 2025.
“We are confident that a mutually beneficial solution is within reach, one that resolves CRF’s claims while signaling to the global financial community Cuba’s willingness to constructively engage with its creditors,” the document insists.
Telemundo 51 consulted with an expert, economist Luis R. Luis, collaborator of 14ymedioquestioned whether the Cuban Government would accept this path of conciliation. “Knowing that they have a low availability of foreign currency and assets, and also the fact that, in general, they do not give in very easily, I imagine that they are not going to agree to negotiate this offer. “It’s just speculation, but I would say that this probably won’t go down that path,” he said.
“Knowing that they have a low availability of foreign currency and assets, and also the fact that, in general, they do not give in very easily, I imagine that they are not going to agree”
The case between CRF and the Cuban regime has its origin in loans signed in 1984 with Credit Lyonnais and Istituto Banco Italiano and which were later transferred to ICBC Standard Bank (a British subsidiary of the Chinese bank ICBC). CRF, a fund created in 2009 in the Cayman Islands, acquired that debt, valued at more than 72 million euros, in 2019 and tried to contact the Cuban party to collect it.
The version defended by the Cuban State is that CRF, which it calls the vulture fund, obtained the debt invalidly, since the then director of operations of the BNC, Rául Olivera Lozano, signed the operation without following the “adequate internal processes.” which is why he is in prison.
The BNC further argued that it did not receive, in the manner required by contract, the advance notice necessary for the reallocation of the debt and, consequently, rejects that CRF is the legitimate owner of the debt.
The judicial process began in January 2023, in London, and the first sentenceruled by Judge Sara Cockerill in April, determined that the BNC was responsible for the debt. The entity is currently a commercial bank, but until 1997 it served as the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) and continued to be responsible for the registration, control and service of the debt it had placed until the creation of the BCC, which is why it was sued.
The judge concluded that CRF could claim payment not from the State, but from the BNC, a decision that was presented as a victory by the ruling party but which, in practice, meant the same thing, since ultimately the entity is state-owned. Furthermore, the ruling indicated that CRF was a legitimate creditor.
The BNC appealed the ruling before an appeals court, but in November 2024 the British justice he was right again at the bottom. “This unanimous decision is a critical milestone in our efforts to achieve justice and enforce contractual rights,” CRF representative Jeet Gordhandas said at the time.
Havana remained silent for several days and, finally, the BCN issued a statement stating that it was analyzing “its defense position for the next steps to follow,” in addition to ratifying “its firm will for dialogue and invariable respect for the debts that have been contracted legitimately”.
Havana remained silent for several days and, finally, the BCN issued a statement stating that it was analyzing “its defense position for the next steps to follow.”
The entity now, unless – improbably – has accepted the agreement, hopes that the Supreme Court will agree with it in a trial that could take a long time to take place. “The facts are clear: Cuba borrowed those sums and did not meet its payment obligations, a constant pattern in its dealings,” CFR said last November, before attempting through its proposal to collect without exhausting, like the other party, the judicial means.
This weekend it emerged that Cuba has managed to renegotiate again the debt it maintains with the Paris Club, whose amount amounted –in the last balancefrom 2022 – to 4,827 million dollars.
In addition, the Island also has debt amounting to approximately 2,000 million euros with Spain, the collection of which has a “difficult solution”according to Israel Arroyo, Secretary of State for Economy and Business Support, this November. The regime has reached several agreements in recent years to reduce the amounts, including that of China, which in 2011 forgave it $6 billion; Mexico, 487 million forgiven in 2013; and Russia, which in 2014 reduced the island’s debt by 90%, leaving the 35,000 million it owed to just 3,500 that it had to pay in agreed terms.
According to the latest official data on debt, corresponding to 2020, Cuba has 19,743 million dollars of external debt, of which 11,202 correspond to official debt, 2,737 to bank debt and 5,804 to debt with suppliers.
