Cuban government will distribute fuel directly to tobacco producers: "In previous years, only 40% reached the fields."

The Tabacuba Company has decided to distribute the fuel intended for the tobacco campaign in Pinar del Río directly to the producers, following a study that showed that in previous years, only 40 percent of the allocated fuel reached the fields, according to state media.

To this end, they have allocated five tanker trucks, four with a capacity of 8,000 liters and one with a capacity of 10,000 liters, which will deliver fuel to over 6,000 producers in Pinar del Río, assured Osvaldo Santana Vera, a representative of the Tabacuba group, in an interview with the local newspaper Guerrillero.

According to the official, the vehicles are equipped with a collecting driver, a POS system, and GPS to monitor their movement. The producers will pay for the allocated fuel cost based on the contracted hectares, with the aim of eliminating payment defaults in this regard.

Additionally, he stated that the distribution will take place twice during the campaign across the 120 agricultural zones identified in the province. Meanwhile, storage will be handled in a set of tanks according to the volumes allocated to each producer.

The measure aims, as the executive clarified, to have fewer people making decisions about fuel, with an estimated 60 to 70 percent reaching the base.

On the other hand, the savings from direct transport from the storage facilities to the producers (two pesos per liter) will fund the drivers' salaries.

The fuel shortage has been a recurring problem in Cuba for years. Despite measures announced by the government, improvements are not noticeable, and justifications are abundant.

An example of this is the collapse of the national electricity system, attributed not only to the obsolescence of thermal power plants but also to the lack of fuel for electricity generation.

At the end of February, during the opening of the XXIV International Festival del Habano, Habanos S.A. announced a record revenue of 721 million dollars for 2023, surpassing the results of the previous year.

The 31% increase in revenue compared to 2022 reflected, according to the company, the ongoing growth and strength of the brand on a global scale.

In 2022, the revenue of the Corporation, a subsidiary of the Tabacuba Business Group led by the former czar of the regime's economic reforms, Marino Alberto Murillo Jorge, reached approximately 497 million.