Medvedev to discuss energy, finance cooperation with Cuban deputy premier

MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas will hold a meeting in Moscow on Friday to discuss financial and energy cooperation between the two countries, the Russian government’s press service reported. "They will discuss key issues of bilateral cooperation in the trade, economic, energy, transport, investment, humanitarian, cultural and other fields," the government said. Cabrisas is in Russia on a visit to attend the 13th meeting of the Russian-Cuban Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, which was held in Kazan on April 22. The meeting comes amid intensification of Russian-Cuban economic relations. In particular, the Russian trade mission to Cuba has recently resumed operation and Alexander Bogatyr was appointed its head last autumn. According to speaker of the Federation Council upper house of Russia’s parliament Valentina Matviyenko, the visit of Cuban leader Raul Castro to Moscow to attend events to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the World War II Victory will promote the development of relations between the two countries. Matviyenko also said that a series of events dedicated to this date will be held during the year of the Victory Day anniversary in Cuba with the participation of the Russian side. As for the recent meeting in Kazan, Russian and Cuban officials have said it was successful. "The side have worked very productively on almost all issues on which we agreed last year, and concrete results have been achieved," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with Cabrisas. The Cuban deputy prime minister also praised the outcome of the meeting in Kazan, which was held "in full compliance with the agreements that were reached at the two leaders’ meeting in July last year." He said that the at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission the sides signed contracts in priority sectors of the two countries’ economies - in the metallurgical industry, aviation, automobile and air transport, energy spheres. In particular, according to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin who represented Russia at the meeting, Cuba may be provided with a loan for technical re-equipment of its power and industrial facilities. Other promising spheres of cooperation include the creation in Cuba of facilities for the production of the ANSAT helicopter, the deployment of ground-based signal calibration stations there, the supply of aircraft equipment to Cuba, as well as the purchase of Cuban medicines by Russia. Read more