The Council of State of Cuba approved two decrees on Thursday during an extraordinary session presided over by Esteban Lazo Hernández, as part of the process to implement the most extensive package of economic reforms approved on the island in decades, according to the state-run Granma.
The approved regulations are the decree law "On the Cuban State Enterprise System" and the "Amendment to Decree Law No. 76 on Agricultural Cooperatives," both designed to update the regulatory framework governing the state economy in accordance with the 176 measures for economic and social transformation ratified by the National Assembly of People's Power on June 18 and 19 of this year.
The first decree establishes the general principles of organization and operation of the state business system under the direction of the National Institute of State Business Assets (INAEES), an organization created in June 2026 to centralize the control of more than 2,000 state-owned enterprises.
Roberto Ricardo Marrero, president of INAEES, stated that the regulation "addresses 16 out of the 17 transformations corresponding to Thematic Axis 1: Transformations in the management model of economic actors, related to the Socialist State Enterprise; as well as facilitates the implementation of 12 transformations from other axes."
Yovana Vega Mato, an official from the Ministry of Economy and Planning, described the regulation as "the platform that enables the state enterprise system, under the guidance of the National Institute of State Business Assets (INAEES), to exercise all its powers and to carry out all the mandated transformations, which are aligned with a set of legal norms currently being developed."
Esteban Lazo emphasized that the decree "ratifies the state socialist enterprise as the main entity of the national economy," expands the autonomy of state-owned companies, and defines their corporate social responsibility.
The second decree modifies the Decree Law 76 on Agricultural Cooperatives, in effect since January 2024, and updates the rules regarding the establishment, organization, integration, and operation of these entities in line with the ongoing reforms.
Both regulations will be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic for the general knowledge of the population.
The reforms approved in June by the Extraordinary Plenary of the Central Committee of the PCC include unprecedented structural changes since 1959, such as the authorization of private banking, the creation of a digital currency exchange market, the removal of the limit of 100 workers for small and medium-sized enterprises, and the possibility of bankruptcy and liquidation of state-owned enterprises that incur sustained losses.
The process is not without its questions. The economist Pedro Monreal has warned that the creation of the INAEES could represent a recentralization of economic power, contradicting the official discourse of greater business autonomy, while segments of the population fear that the elimination of subsidies and bankruptcy procedures may lead to massive unemployment and loss of access to basic services.
The 176 measures approved are grouped into 23 thematic axes and also include direct access for private individuals and cooperatives to import and export, as well as a reduction in the number of ministries from 27 to 21.
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