The International Affairs Committee of the Council of the Federation pointed out that cooperation between Cuba and Russia is of special importance for the country: “The provision of aid to the friendly Republic of Cuba in terms of financing the acquisition of oil and its derivatives will contribute to strengthening the political positions of the Russian Federation in Latin America,” the committee stressed. On May 24, the Russian State Duma (Lower House of Parliament) also approved the four protocols to modify the intergovernmental credit agreements with Cuba, penned in Havana on August 7, 2021.

One of the protocols modifies the bilateral agreement on granting a state loan, dated January 30th, 2009; and another deals about the approval of a credit to finance the supply of oil and its derivatives to Cuba, which was inked on March 20, 2017.

Between 2006 and 2019, Russia granted state export loans to Cuba in an amount equivalent to 2.3 billion dollars in order to finance projects in the fields of energy, iron and steel, transport infrastructure and the supply of products to develop and support its economy, as stated in the explanatory note on the new law.

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