As part of a business meeting between Russian and Cuban businessmen that took place at the end of May 2023 in Havana, it was agreed to set up a Russian brand UAZ car assembly base on the island. According to reports in the Russian press, this launch will happen “soon”.
The information specifies that this was a decision that was made as a result of negotiations between representatives of the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant and Cuban companies. So far, these talks have revealed several businesses, such as the opening of Russian bank branches on the island and the possible use of the ruble, the Russian currency, in transactions between the two nations.
They elaborate that the first batch of kits of these machines will arrive in Cuba in July-August 2023. Russian media claim that the main interest from the Cuban side was in UAZ Profi vehicles, as well as an ambulance created on the basis of the ambulance. Uz bread.
Russian cars in Cuba
Boris Titov, authorized by the President of Russia to protect the rights of businessmen, announced these plans to organize the assembly of UAZ vehicles in Havana, as well as the creation of service centers for the repair and maintenance of this type of car. on the island.
The Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant is looking to strengthen its cars presence in Latin America and Cuba will not be the first base, as since March 16 Bolivia has been paying in rubles for UAZ vehicles supplied to that nation from Russia. According to this report, this new form of payment, which will be sought to be implemented on the island as well, will greatly simplify business interactions.
Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant was created in 1941 and its main purpose is the manufacture of domestic SUVs, off-road campers and military transport vehicles, as well as buses and some trucks. Hundreds of models of Soviet vehicles of the Lada, Moskvich and Niva types, among others, have roamed the island for decades, surviving thanks to Cuban ingenuity.
