The Cuban regime announced this Tuesday that starting on Friday, May 15, at 12:00 AM, the prices for fuel sold in foreign currency will no longer be fixed and uniform across the country.
According to the official statement from the Ministry of Finance and Prices, "the selling prices in foreign currency for fuels will be updated, either upward or downward, in accordance with the actual costs of each specific operation," which means that each service station will be able to set its own price based on the supplier, freight costs, the route, insurance, and fluctuations in the international market.
The Ministry specified that "from now on, different retail prices for fuel will coexist at service stations, which will reflect the actual import cost for each economic actor." Payments can only be made in foreign currency, not in Cuban pesos.
In his weekly program on CiberCuba, economist Elías Amor described the measure as "typical of a market-oriented economy" and explained its practical impact: where prices are lower, more drivers will come, allowing that gas station to negotiate larger volumes with its suppliers and further reduce fuel costs.
"Notice that when you open a door to a market economy, competitiveness automatically emerges, prices arise, and added value comes into play," he pointed out.
However, Amor warned that “there is always something hidden in the decisions of the Castro regime, and clearly, that’s the case here.” His main concern is that the small and medium-sized enterprises managing the gas stations are companies close to the state power organs. “They’re not going to hand this business over to just anyone. Clearly, it’s a very lucrative business,” he stated.
The economist also pointed out that fuel can be purchased in the United States and transported to Cuba in small containers. "The days of the Russian oil tanker are over, that has come to an end," he said, referring to the donation of a fuel tanker from Russia.
Amor was categorical in attributing the origin of the measure not to the regime, but to external pressures: "I am convinced that this measure is not the creation of the communist regime. This measure comes from discussions between the U.S. State Department and the team of negotiators who are going from Cuba, who are being asked to take steps towards opening up the economy and liberalizing it."
The risk, according to Amor, is that the new managing micro, small, and medium enterprises may turn out to be "little tentacles linked to that consortium called GAESA", the opaque business conglomerate of the Cuban Army that controls approximately 60% of the economy and which on May 7 was the subject of new U.S. sanctions.
"If the small and medium enterprises managing the gas stations are disengaged from the state power structures, then all of this is welcome," he concluded.
The measure comes in the context of an unprecedented energy crisis. The price of a liter of gasoline in the Cuban informal market rose from between 700 and 1,500 pesos in January 2026 to around 6,000 pesos —equivalent to about 12 dollars— in May, while in the official dollarized channel, the price slightly exceeds one dollar per liter with a limit of 20 liters per person.
Since February 2026, the government authorized small and medium-sized enterprises to import fuel directly for the first time in nearly seventy years, and the United States exported over 11.6 million dollars in fuel to Cuba during the first quarter of 2026, with March accounting for 75.6% of the total.
Filed under: