Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas is on an intensive working visit to the Russian Federation. His agenda includes meetings between his Russian counterparts, Russian business and the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic-Commercial and Scientific-Technical Cooperation.
The Cuban Minister met with Guennadi Zyuganov, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Ivan Mielnikov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, to discuss the international economic crisis and the unprecedented tightening of U.S. sanctions.
Minister Cabrisas also held a discussion with Yuri Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.
The minister will take part in consultations in a videoconference concerning Cuba’s observer status in the Eurasian Economic Union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan).
Cabrisas held a meeting with Valentina Matviyenko, the Senator from Saint Petersburg and Chairwoman of the Federation Council, at its headquarters in Moscow. They discussed the economic situation in Cuba, which has been made worst by increasing US sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We value the strategic nature of Russian-Cuban intergovernmental cooperation. Intensive and substantial political dialogue is maintained at all levels,” said Ms. Matviyenko.
She also offered congratulation Cuba’s new Ambassador to Russia Julio Garmendía Pena on his new appointment and wished him success.
The working agenda has also included meetings with Russian business executives.
Cabrisas spoke with senior executives of the ARTK, Veya Invest, Promingeneering and Inter Rao companies in which they discussed mutual business and development prospects.
The Deputy Vice Minister also held a meeting with representatives from the International Investment Bank of which Cuba is a member.
Also on the table between the Russians and Cubans were discussions on bilateral cooperation and the expansion of joint ventures involving the pharmaceutical sector, cooperation in public health systems, economic development hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the development of cultural relations between the two nations.
Minister Cabrisas’ official visit to Moscow will mark the continuity of the agreements and strengthening of ties between the two countries. Over the past several years, Cuba-Russia bilateral relations have experienced significant growth. Top officials from both nations have exchanged a multitude of official visits, the most recent by the delegation of the Russian Federation Council chaired by Ms. Matviyenko in November, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in October, Dmitry Medvedev also in that month, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in July.
In 2019, trade between Cuba and Russia stood at more than 500 million dollars.
Also present with Minister Cabrisas on the Cuban working group were Julio Garmendía, Ambassador of Cuba in Russia, Ana Teresita González Fraga, First Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Emilio Lozada García, Director General of Bilaterals of MINREX, Isaac Hernández Pérez, Director of the Central Bank of Cuba, and other government officials.
Minister Cabrisas will continue meetings today. He will be in Russia until the 29th of September.
