Business & Economy

The Cuban agriculture authorities hope to recover the production of cacao, whose decrease has forced the country to import that product that is especially harvested in the eastern province of Guantánamo. The drop in that sector is due, among other reasons, to problems with transportation and insufficient payment to producers, reported IPS.

Spain’s Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit of the U.S. Bacardí Company and recognized the ownership by the French Pernod Ricard Company and its Cuban partner Cuba Ron of the Havana Club brand, the press in Madrid reported. Havana Club is sold in 124 countries, but cannot be marketed in the United States due to the blockade against the island, reported IPS.

The application of double shifts does not resolve the delay in Cuban constructions, where “finishing a building in time, with quality and without exceeding the assigned budget, is a chimera,” according to an article published today in the official Granma daily. The application of this measure has faced problems such as lack of workers, material resources, and organizational deficiencies.

For decades taxation has not been a part of the national scene in Cuba, with almost all workers earning a salary from the state. Today’s economic crisis, along with the massive layoffs underway, has made paying taxes essential for the government’s plans to meet social expenditures.

Power consumption in Cuban homes surpassed that of the non-residential sector for the first time in 2010, Tatiana Amarán, director of rational power use of the Electricity Conglomerate of Cuba, announced. According to the official, that proportion could continue in 2011 due to the opening to the private sector in the island’s economy.

Cuba will drill 20 new oil wells in 2011, mainly in the area from Havana to Varadero, some 120 kilometers east of the island’s capital, said Rafael Tenreyro, head of the exploration group of the Petróleos de Cuba Company. He noted that the drilling will take place from the coast to the sea, to reduce the environmental impact.

Representatives of the Cuban and Venezuelan governments said they were pleased with how the 23 agreements in the electric power sector are working out, which have made it possible to improve the maintenance of networks, the installation of new equipment and the recovery of others in the South American country, the press reported after a meeting in Caracas. Last year the island helped its principal ally overcome an acute power crisis caused by the worst drought in half a century.

Cuba will bring together hundreds of Havana cigar aficionados during the 13th Havana Cigar Festival, which will begin on Feb. 21 in this capital, the Opciones weekly reported. The event, organized by the Habanos S.A. joint venture, will feature the Havana Cigar Sommelier contest, a competition in which the participants demonstrate their mastery in the combination of wines and cigars.

Forty per cent of the available land for agricultural purposes in Cuba is still idle, despite the handing over of plots more than two years ago through Decree-Law 259, stated the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Center for Land Control.

A lack of foresight in the purchase of spare parts for harvesters and problems in the contracting of productions affect the recovery of the rice sector in Cuba, Minister of Agriculture Gustavo Rodríguez recognized in a meeting of cooperatives held in the eastern city of Bayamo.