MIAMI, United States.- The ranchers of the province of Ciego de Ávila, who are producing milk well above what was contracted to access a stimulus, have not received a single peso of what the state promised them. The dairy company in that province already owes 60,000 in freely convertible currency (MLC) because the government claims that it does not have enough funds in foreign currency to keep its word.
In this regard, says an article in 14yMedio, the director of production at the Dairy Company, Rubén Pina Ángel Bello, told the newspaper Invasive that ranchers are doing their part and more, but the efforts are zero because there is no foreign exchange.
“Many are overachieving, on average, about 800 [litros] every month and our contracts are with 2,309 ranchers, which must continue to increase; but even when the company reaches 110% overcompliance with the milk plan, the destination of our productions does not generate all the convertible currency that we need”, he pointed out.
According to official information, Avilanian farmers have delivered this year 21,900 liters of milk more each day than last year, however, they are still below because the dairy sector received approximately 70 tons of powdered milk annually.
That is why to cover this import, farmers would have to produce about 19,000 liters of milk per day and, in addition, an unspecified surplus for derivatives, such as ice cream, yogurt, butter or cheese that can be sold in MLC.
The Cuban official assured that for this year the total expected volume is greater than 16 million liters of milk, one more than in 2021, but he calculates that they will remain at 12 million.
“Given the logical debt of the dairy sector with the overachievers (and perhaps precisely for this reason), others have applied theirs: they produce their derivatives and sell them, or they go to the informal market where a liter can reach 50 pesos and an MLC can reach 50 pesos. 110.00. They apply the convertibility that the State does not apply and deduce that by selling ‘outside’ they earn more than with overcompliance, for which they receive 20 pesos, plus 10 cents from the MLC. Those cents, at the informal rate, represent about 11 pesos. In other words, the exceeded liter leaves them with 31 pesos, below the liter on the street”, says the report.
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