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A Liberia-flagged tanker carrying about 700,000 barrels of Russian fuel oil arrived in Cuba last week, the Latin American news website Infobae reported on Sunday. The shipment showed that Moscow was not only supporting Cuba's communist government, but also finding markets for oil stocks that the West had stopped buying because of Russia's latest war with Ukraine.
“The Liberia-flagged Aframax tanker Suvorovsky Prospect arrived in Cuba’s Matanzas port [on July 14] carrying about 700,000 barrels of fuel oil, loaded at Russia’s Ust-Luga port. The cargo is worth some $70 million at market prices,” Reuters reported at the time.
“The vessel is owned by a unit of top Russian shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot, according to maritime database Equasis. Sovcomflot is under British, Canadian and U.S. sanctions and has lost insurance by Western firms for its fleet,” the news agency noted.
Oil and fuel from Russia are banned in the U.S. and Canada right now. On February 24, just a few hours after Moscow started its latest war with Ukraine, Washington led a campaign of financial sanctions against Russian companies and organizations. Most American allies are now on board with the U.S.-led embargo. According to reports, Europe and Britain plan to stop importing crude oil from Russia by the end of the year.
Since it took power on the island in the early 1960s, Cuba's communist regime has done a terrible job of running the government and economy, causing the country to fall into poverty. All parts of the country are hurt by the lack of money, including the power industry in Cuba, which often can't give people enough electricity.
"In the past few weeks, there have been a lot of power outages in Cuba. This has made the people so upset that the dictator, Miguel Diaz-Canel, had to go out and explain the situation on TV, and he also started a tour of the main thermoelectric plants. Last year, these power outages were one of the reasons why people got angry in ways that aren't usually seen," Infobae said on July 17.
Rolling blackouts have been a problem on the Caribbean island of Cuba for many years. This is mostly because the state power grid is not well built. The latest shipment of fuel oil from Russia to Cuba is likely just a short-term fix for a much bigger power crisis.
“According to experts, the problem is far from being resolved as it requires a radical recapitalization and modernization of the vulnerable thermoelectric plants, something unthinkable in the current context of crisis,” Infobae noted on Sunday.
“Cuba generates most electricity from fuel oil and its own heavy crude production. Smaller distributed generation plants fueled with diesel help the country complement power generation,” Reuters observed on July 14.
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