Business & Economy

The International Port Corporation, the company that is offering the brand new weekly service of shipping goods directly from Miami to Cuba, suspended shipments this week but will resume next Wednesday.

The Office of the Historian of Havana, directed by Eusebio Leal, has leased premises in Old Havana to the self-employed. The rental spaces in Old Havana could turn out to be very valuable to entrepreneurs, given the area’s location as a major center of tourism on the island.

Cuba launched its first biodiesel plant in the province of Guantanamo, built with Swiss support, reported the director of the Center for Technology Applications for Sustainable Development in the province, speaking on national television on Monday.

A Regular Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power (Cuban Parliament) will debate new tax system from July 20 to 22.

Mexico and Cuba on Thursday launched a new direct air route between Mexico City and the central Cuban city of Santa Clara, reads a statement from the island’s Ministry of Tourism.

The “Ana Cecilia”, the first cargo ship that travels directly from Miami to Cuba in half a century, arrived Friday morning with its cargo of humanitarian aid a day late at the Port of Havana, reported DPA news.

The US government on Wednesday imposed a fine of $1.35 million on the Great Western Malting Company for doing business with Cuba.

Cuban President Raul Castro concluded on Wednesday a three-day stay in Russia, where he met with President Vladimir Putin, Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev and other officials.

The Cuban government on Monday announced the impending application of severe import duties on “non-commercial goods by individuals shipped by air, sea, post or courier,” reported the Café Fuerte website.

The first direct maritime shipment in over a half century between Miami and Havana will leave out on the ship Santa Cecilia, which is loaded with humanitarian aid for the island, and will arrive in port on Thursday. The shipments will take place on a regular weekly basis.