Weekly Report - 3 October 2006

CUBA: Russia signs US$355m loan deal. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov visited Cuba on 28 and 29 September to sign an agreement providing Cuba with a US$355m 10-year loan, at 4% interest, to fund the acquisition of Russian goods and services. Fradkov, the most senior Russian official to visit Cuba since President Vladimir Putin in 2000, said that another agreement had been signed restructuring Cuba's US$166m debt to Russia. No mention was made of Cuba's debt to the former Soviet Union, put at between US$21 and US$30bn. Russian-Cuban trade amounted to a paltry US$125m in 2006 but Russia hopes Cuba will use the new credit line to modernise its ailing energy sector, improve its transport infrastructure and invest in air navigation systems.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 305 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options

• Subscribe
• Sign up for a one-time, 14-day trial