AREQUIPA, Peru – Russian ambassador to Havana, Viktor Coronelli, informed the state agency Ria Novosti that the Kremlin provides aid to the Cuban regime with food, wheat and loans for the purchase of oil.
Amid the shortages on the island, the senior official said that Russia is cooperating “very intensively” with relevant UN organizations, such as the World Food Program (WFP).
“Within the framework of this program, we have already made several deliveries of vegetable oil, grains and chickpeas to Cuba,” Coronelli said.
Since last September 12th, the Castro government announced the reduction in the size of the bread in the rationed “family basket” due to the shortage of wheat in the country to ensure continuous supply.
In this regard, the Russian diplomat explained that beyond humanitarian supplies, a commercial project by a Novosibirsk company that supplies grain to a flour mill in the province of Cienfuegos is being implemented “successfully” in Cuba.
More than 100,000 tons of grain have already been delivered to Cuba as part of this project, he said.
“This year, as in the past, Russia gave Cuba a loan of 100 million dollars. Of this loan, 80 million were used to import oil from Russia, 10 million to buy fertilizers in Russia and another 10 million to buy wheat, which has already been supplied,” Coronelli added.
In recent months, the relationship between the two nations has also been strengthened in the military field, beyond the donations of oil and food. In June of this year, three ships and a nuclear submarine of the Russian Navy arrived in Havanain whose port they remained for five days.
Amid the international uproar, the Cuban regime’s Ministry of the Armed Forces (MINFAR) specified that “none of the ships” carried nuclear weapons and indicated that the visit was in line “with the historic relations of friendship between Cuba and the Russian Federation” and was “strictly in accordance with the international regulations of which Cuba is a State Party.”
Almost a year ago, in July 2023, Havana also received the training ship Perekopbelonging to the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy, which remained anchored on the island for three days.
Following the announcement of the Perekop trip to Havana, the regime’s Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, said that both Russia and Cuba were faced with “the task of raising trade and economic relations to the level of political relations, which are very strong.”
The Cuban and Russian regimes have intensified their relations in the last five years, with the signing of projects in various areas such as trade, culture, politics and business. Havana, for its part, has unconditionally supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
