State-Owned Premises One Night, Privatized the Next Morning

In Holguín, as in most of the Island, private businesses are rapidly replacing dilapidated state-owned companies infrastructure.

By Miguel García (14ymedio)

HAVANA TIMES – They go from being premises with peeling facades to freshly painted ones, with bars on the windows and air conditioning inside. The process of leasing state-owned stores, offices, and warehouses to private interests in Holguín is spreading, as it is in Havana and other cities in Cuba. It takes place under the watchful eyes of residents who face the gradual privatization with expectations and doubts.

In front of the former vehicle workshop of the Comar Basic Economic Unit, belonging to the Holguín Fishing Company, on Friday morning a line of customers waited to enter. In the spacious warehouse on Aricochea Street, the clatter of tools is no longer heard, nor is the smell of grease and fuel that characterized the place.

Now, after a major renovation, the private business Obra Real is located there, with a wide assortment of food, hygiene products, and household items. In the line, some arrive for the first time at the restored property and are amazed. “I hardly recognized it, I used to pass by here frequently and this was a mess, it’s completely changed,” commented a man waiting to buy detergent told 14ymedio.

Obra Real has four locations in the city of Holguín and its catalog includes everything from La Estrella brand brown sugar packets, imported from Panama to fans that are recharged with small solar panels. “Prices are high, but right now I have to come here to buy flour because there is no bread in my bakery,” adds the man.

The bidding process for these private companies to rent state-owned premises still lacks promotion and transparency. “They told me they are renting space from the Copextel warehouses on Carretera Central Martí Street, in front of the Electric Company, but when I went to inquire, it had already been ‘awarded’ to the owner of several motorcycle repair shops,” an entrepreneur interested in the premises told this newspaper anonymously.

“In this city, when night falls, one space belongs to the State and the next day when you wake up it’s under private management, but no one knows exactly how,” he laments. “Rumor has it that you have to make donations to hospitals and give gifts to officials to get on the list of beneficiaries.”

Another warehouse on Libertadores Avenue, where until a few years ago oxygen cylinders for patients were stored, passed from the hands of Public Health to the small private company DaSens, dedicated to the production of cleaning and hygiene products. Now, with a blue awning at the entrance, there is hardly a day when there aren’t a dozen people waiting to enter.

Children’s colognes, hair dyes, household cleaners, and dishwashers are part of the business’ offering, most of which are imported in bulk and packaged on the Island. At the entrance, the store has a sign where a smiling woman carries a bag of freshly purchased products. However, in the line of those waiting to enter, the faces don’t seem so happy.

“Before having these places closed and unused, it’s good that they give them to individuals so that at least they fix them up and sell something,” says Lazara, a resident of Reparto Peralta. “I came for a cologne for my grandson but I don’t know how much I’m going to find it for today because all the prices are going up and the private businesses take advantage of the fact that the State has almost nothing to sell.”

In another warehouse, which once belonged to the Holguín Beverages and Refreshments Company, now the goods of the private Rey de Reyes are on display, on Carretera Central and Callejón San Pablo. On one of its side walls, a newly painted red crown logo accompanies the name of the store. The detail doesn’t go unnoticed by arriving buyers.

“We’ll have to be kings soon to be able to buy anything, because you come one day, turn around, and the next day it’s increased by 50 or 100 pesos,” joked a woman who carefully read the list with the products and their prices displayed outside. “Yes, although you may encounter an employee of a private business who mistreats you, it’s more common for the treatment to be better than with the State businesses.”

Among the details of “improvement” compared to government stores, the woman notes that “they have good refrigeration and when you buy chicken it’s as hard as a rock, not half thawed.” She adds that “the stores have air conditioning, display refrigerators, some have made large investments in signs and glass counters to see the merchandise well.”

However, the woman believes that they have also “copied some of the worst things from state stores.” In her opinion, “they never give discounts even if the merchandise is about to expire, they use a lot the ‘combo’ formula to force you to buy products you’re not interested in, because if you’re looking for a bottle of oil, then you have to include some instant soft drinks or a package of coffee.”

The list goes on. The warehouses of the once powerful Copextel, managed by the military and dedicated to the trade of computer supplies, have also been rented to a private owner. Although on the facade it still reads “integrated solutions,” the hustle and bustle from inside point to more mundane goods: boxes of chicken, detergent packets, and bags of rice now occupy the space that was once destined for computers, monitors, and printers.

Although their walls have not yet been painted, it seems to be only a matter of time before their current managers renovate the building and hang colorful signs outside. Once restored, people passing by the premises on Carretera Central will have no doubt. “Look, there’s another private business,” they will say, as is heard more and more frequently in the neighborhoods of Holguin.

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.