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The Cuban economist Pedro Monreal published a thread on his X account this Monday, where he referred to the National Institute of State Business Assets (INAEES) as the "grave digger of public enterprises" in Cuba.
Monreal began his message by recalling that the entity was activated by the regime even before the law intended to regulate it existed.
"The National Institute of State Business Assets (INAEES) of Cuba has made headlines, an organization activated even before the existence of the Business Law intended to regulate it, which is still awaiting approval in the National Assembly," wrote Monreal.
The draft law on the Socialist State Enterprise, which would provide legal support to INAEES, has been in circulation for over two years without parliamentary approval. In the economist's view, this highlights a logic of political control that overrides legal and economic rationality.
The economist points out that the "super ministry" was conceived as "the new centerpiece of state business management in Cuba."
In his opinion, "the INAEES is inspired by models from China and Vietnam, but unlike those references, it does not manage a previously refined system, but rather a deeply dysfunctional business amalgamation."
"It is still unclear what the Cuban government today envisions as 'restructuring,' but INAEES runs the risk of acting less as a manager of state assets and more like a gravedigger of public enterprises: orchestrating their bankruptcy, liquidation, or privatization," warned the economist.
What is INAEES in Cuba?
The INAEES was announced in December 2025 by Deputy Prime Minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga before the National Assembly. It is designed to centralize control over more than 2,000 state-owned enterprises in Cuba under the Council of Ministers, effectively operating as a "super ministry" for the state business system.
On June 5, Roberto Ricardo Marrero was appointed president of INAEES during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Maritime Port Transport Business Group (GEMAR), an organization he had chaired until that moment. He was succeeded by Luis Alberto González Nieto, who was previously the deputy director of the organization.
The INAEES reorganizes or replaces some of the functions of the OSDE (Superior Business Management Organizations), entities that have historically grouped state-owned companies by sectoral affinity.
Resolution 36/2025 from the Ministry of Economy and Planning had already ordered to "begin the improvement of the OSDE, starting by modifying its concept and functions," anticipating this reconfiguration of the business system.
The new entity is part of the Economic and Social Program of the Government 2026, approved in April, whose General Objective 4 states "to transform, modernize, and develop the Cuban business system by strengthening the role of the socialist state enterprise."
paradoxically, that same month, Díaz-Canel promised less bureaucracy and fewer ministries before the end of 2026, yet the creation of the INAEES indicates the opposite direction according to analysts.
All of this is happening against the backdrop of Cuba's worst economic crisis in decades, characterized by fuel shortages, prolonged blackouts, and a contraction of GDP, a situation in which the regime has chosen to implement greater state control instead of liberalization.
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