Miami, United States. -Officials of the Cuba-Petroleo Union (CUPET) and the Corporation CIMEX They confirmed this Tuesday That the country faces a “special gasoline” deficit, which has led to restricting the sale only to the Network of Servicers, in US dollars (USD).
Irenaldo Pérez Cardoso, Deputy Director of CUPET, explained that “as a consequence of the current situation of special gasoline, which presents a deficit in the country, it has been decided from national productions to guarantee the network of service, in USD.” However, he did not detail how this supply or in what deadlines will be guaranteed.
As usual in the official discourse, the official attributed part of the problem to the sanctions imposed by the United States, pointing out that “the export of said product is a real problem following the entry of the American president Donald Trump.” However, he did not refer to internal production and management difficulties that have affected the supply of fuels on the island.
According to Pérez Cardoso, the current plan contemplates the distribution of “900 tons between regular and motor gasoline” daily (the official did not specify whether this amount will be sufficient to meet the demand). For his part, Ernesto Martínez Hernández, first vice president of Cimex, reported that the state sector will implement new measures from midnight on Wednesday to allow their fuel cards to be used to buy regular gasoline.
According to the official, the private sector will not be affected by these measures, since the card used by individuals “access all types of fuels.”
However, the shortage of special gasoline is expected to generate an impact on prices and availability of the rest of the fuels.
The lack of transparency on the real availability of fuels and the insistence on blaming external factors without mentioning the structural crisis that affects the country have generated uncertainty among the population. Meanwhile, Cuban drivers continue to face long lines and limitations to supply their vehicles in a scenario of energy crisis that persists without concrete solutions in the short term.
