Putin Announces Increase in Cooperation with Cuba

An increase of Russian cooperation with Cuba  was announced by the President of the Russian Federation, Valdimir V. Putin, in the presence of Army General Raul Castro, president of the Councils of State and Ministers. We have big projects to expand cooperation with Cuba in key areas such as energy, health and others, said the Eurasian president at Revolution Palace after the signing by his country of 10 important legal instruments with the island.

He referred to his government’s decision to write off 90 percent of the debt that Havana had with Moscow since the days of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, amounting to about 35 billion dollars.
The other 10 percent will materialize in Russian investments in Cuban soil, he added, and recalled that cooperation bonds between his country and Cuba are scheduled through 2020.

This situation is due to the agreement adopted at the 10th Meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic-Commercial and Scientific-Technical Cooperation, held November, 2012.

Speaking after the signing of the documents, Raul recalled that Cuban debt with the Eurasian nation accumulated as a result of “the decisive help of the USSR.”

He expressed his gratitude for the decision “of the Russian people and government over the cancellation of most of the Cuban debt” and his confidence that ties between the two states will increase and strengthen hereafter.

The signing ceremony of the legal instruments on Friday between top officials of the two countries took place at the end of the official talks between Putin and Raul.

A cooperation agreement “on ensuring international information security”, was signed by Sergei Lavrov and Bruno Rodriguez, foreign ministers of both nations.

Six were the memorandums of understanding adopted, which cover the spheres of health, industry, attention to disasters and electric generation and lighting. Veronica I. Skortsova and Roberto Morales, health ministers of the two countries, signed a memorandum on the protection of men’s health.

Representatives of the Cuban Electric Association and its Russian counterpart, INTER RAO-Export SL., signed three memorandums, one aimed at the construction in Cuba of four generation units with installed capacity of 200 megawatt per unit.

Also signed was another agreement for the production and application of LED lighting technology and one between the Rushydro Open Federal Company for Hydrogenation Inc. and the Cuban Electric Association.

The Cuban Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Affairs of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Relief of Disaster Consequences made a memorandum aimed at the development of a Cuban-Russian Regional Rescue and Firefighter Training Center official.

These were signed by Vladimir A. Puchkov minister of the aforementioned Ministry in Russia, and Army Corps General Abelardo Colome, minister of the Interior.

Putin and his delegation left on Friday afternoon for Argentina and on Sunday they will arrive in Brazil to participate in the Summit of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), on July 15 and 16.