Business & Economy

Authorities in Cuba’s province of Sancti Spiritus have announced that a region-wide police offensive has resulted in the prosecution of nearly three hundred citizens who had participated in illicit business activities.

The Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) today denied having contacts with representatives of the Mexican professional club Cañeros of the Monchis, which supposedly came to the island to scout Cuban players. “We have not had any contact with agents of any professional team,” said the president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, Higinio Velez.

The director of the Sugarcane Derivates Research Institute, Luis Galvez, said this weekend that the sugar industry in Cuba is “unaffordable ” without the production of sucrose.

Starting October 21 Cuban farmers, either land owners or land leasers, will have the option to sell their products directly to tourism entities. The new measures are due to the fact that to date “direct sales are lower than the existing potential,” said Roberto Perez, Communist Party official serving agribusiness policy.

Another collaborative technology project is underway since early this year between the Cuban government with the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, to “promote the production of agricultural products of higher quality.”

Havana’s Almacenes Ultra department store will remain closed “until further notice” on instructions from the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP). The busy store was closed last week owing to “large concentrations of mosquitos and rodents and severe leaks in sanitary facilities,” store sources confirmed.

Cubana Airlines received on Wednesday a third Antonov An-158 passenger aircraft sold by Russia to the Caribbean island. The delivery was made at the Moscow MAKS International Aerospace 2013 hall, reported Prensa Latina.

Workplace negligence resulted in a 15,000-liter oil spill at the Sergio Soto Refinery located in Cabaiguan, in Cuba’s central province of Sancti Spiritus. According to authorities at the facility, the situation is already under control.

Fifteen people have been detained for their alleged involvement in the massive theft of fans and refrigeration units from the Empresa Productora de Utensilios Domesticos (INPUD), a manufacturer of electrical household appliances located in Cuba’s central province of Santa Clara.