More than 750 tons of sunflower oil arrived in Havana from Russia for the reserves of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Cuba, as reported by the state media.
© YAMIL LAGE / AFP via Getty Images)
17/10/2026
by
Lusa
Mais 750 tons of sunflower oil arrived in Havana from Russia, to the emergency response reserves of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Cuba, state media reported.
This lot was financed by the Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergency and Elimination of the Consequences of Natural Disasters of Russia, through a biennial contribution of four million dollars (3.55 million euros) corresponding to the period of 2025-2026, reported on Friday the Latin Press Agency.
The agency also indicated that the PMA has acted as a “central multilateral channel” through which these donations reach the country, coordinating with the Cuban Government the distribution of aid to the most vulnerable groups.
At the donation ceremony, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Oscar Pérez-Oliva highlighted Russia’s “permanent support” for the Cuban people.
The Russian ambassador to the island, Víktor Koronelli, said that this aid is “an additional demonstration of the historical ties of friendship and solidarity” between Moscow and Havana.
The donation, “in addition to being a symbolic gesture, will be of great importance at this difficult time that Cuba is going through, as a result of the unprecedented increase in economic and financial blockade and the energy siege imposed by the United States Government,” the diplomat said.
This lot will be aimed at vulnerable sectors of the Cuban population, such as children, the elderly and pregnant women, needed a statement from the Russian embassy.
The note also recalls that in 2025 Russia, in cooperation with the United Nations PMA, delivered similar shipments of sunflower oil to Cuba, totaling over 800 tonnes.
The donations of essential goods to Cuba arise in the context of the deep economic crisis that the island is going through, attributed both to failed domestic policies and to US sanctions, which have caused food, fuel and medicines shortages, galloping inflation, prolonged energy cuts and a growing dollarization.