Madrid/The US Government seems determined to calm doubts about the import of fuel for private individuals in Cuba, as published this Tuesday by Bloomberg, to whom a Washington official stated that a clarification will be issued on this authorization in which it is clear that the recipient will be “the Cuban people” and not “the Cuban regime.”
The sales were already a fact confirmed in recent days by testimonies from businessmen from the Island and the United States, but the fear that the US Administration would cut off that flow was evident. “It is being handled with the utmost discretion. There is fear that the Trump Administration could also restrict this channel, although after recent statements by Marco Rubio there are expectations that no measures will be adopted that directly affect MSMEs,” he said. a little over a week ago a source to Martí News.
Now, according to Bloomberg’s source, the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Treasury will put an end to the uncertainty with the issuance of a document for exporters and re-exporters which highlights that the sale of fuels to private companies and Cuban individuals does not require a specific license and is permitted by current legislation.
Pending the publication of the instruction, the question is how they will be able to transfer the fuel into the hands of private parties without the State intervening in the slightest.
Pending the publication of the instruction, the question is how they will be able to transfer the fuel into the hands of private parties without the State intervening in the slightest.
At the beginning of February, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, said that the Government was facilitating and authorizing any company that had the possibility of purchasing fuel to do so. “We have decentralized, you can say, the import of fuel,” he said.
Since then, has transcended that several companies are already importing the product, some of them, as this newspaper was able to verify, through the Chinese company Fujian Trebor Trading Company, which brings and sells gasoline paid in dollars for MSMEs, in batches of up to 25,000 liters.
The conditions for the purchase – announced on social networks – were confirmed to 14ymedio in a call to several MSMEs that have used their services and that must manage operations through the state-owned Quimimport, dedicated to the purchase of chemical products, where interested parties must “qualify themselves as clients” and wait for the corresponding “commercial proposal.”
Clients must have a Microlocation Certificate issued by Physical Planning, which includes the exact coordinates of the place where the deposit will be located; a certification from the APCI (Fire Protection Agency) of the Fire Brigade of the Fire Department; the tank capacity and standardization certificate issued by Metrology, in cases where the tank is rented to a state company; a statement from the company stating that the fuel will be for own use; and the Tank Contract (the corresponding agreement or lease, cooperation or storage agreement) when the tank belongs to a state entity.
From the importer Quimimport, contacted by 14ymediostate that the company “is carrying out the processing and execution of these operations, so it is necessary to clarify that to date, the importation has not been authorized by the Directorate of the Ministry.”
It is, in any case, essential to be authorized by the Government for these acquisitions to have the State for different procedures, as well as the storage and management of a product that has associated risks.
It is, in any case, essential to be authorized by the Government for these acquisitions to have the State for different procedures, as well as the storage and management of a product that has associated risks.
The previous information, published by Martí Newsstated that several countries are already making this type of exports to the Island, including businessmen from Miami. “Each unit can transport around 24,000 liters and delivery is made in the port of Mariel directly to customers,” said one of the interviewees.
The United States will have to specify how it will prevent the regime from controlling fuel to a certain extent as soon as the diesel reaches the Island, although the Cuban Government is not interested in hindering aid that would oxygenate the private sector economy and end up alleviating the current hardships.
On the other hand, this Tuesday Cubanet published research from which it appears that a large number of private companies are linked to ministers, members of the armed forces or relatives of officials, including Mariela Castro’s own daughter, owner of a local Development Project that has authorization for the import of hydrocarbons.
According to the media, as of February 16, approximately 150 companies had submitted formal applications, of which 42 have been authorized, the majority dedicated to passenger transportation, logistics and agricultural production.
