The Council of State of Cuba published this Wednesday the , a regulation that removes the limit of 100 workers for private companies and legally recognizes the existence of businesses that exceed that number.
The provision, issued on August 19, 2026, and published in the , modifies Decree-Laws 88, 89, and 90 of 2024 and comes into effect upon publication.
The change represents the legal realization of one of the main measures for the private sector that the Cuban regime announced in June, when it presented a package of economic transformations amid the prolonged crisis affecting the island.
Private companies will be able to exceed 100 employees
One of the most significant changes in Decree-Law 133 is the removal of the cap of 100 employees, which previously defined the maximum size for medium-sized private enterprises.
With the new regulation, the classification is established as follows:
- Microenterprises, with one to ten employees.
- Small businesses, from 11 to 35.
- Medium-sized companies, from 36 to 100.
- Private companies with more than 100 employees.
In practice, the measure paves the way for the legal existence of larger private companies, although they will continue to operate within the system of regulations and controls established by the Cuban state.
The decree even changes the name of Decree-Law 88, which is now called “On micro, small, and medium enterprises and private companies with more than one hundred (100) workers.”
Additionally, it stipulates that references to "mipymes" contained in Cuban law be replaced by the new designation.
What will the new private enterprises be able to do?
Decree-Law 133 defines these entities as economic units with legal personality primarily intended to produce goods and provide services.
The regulation includes state-owned, private, mixed enterprises, as well as political, mass, and social organizations.
Among the recognized powers are managing and administering their assets, defining the products and services they market, operating bank accounts, determining their structure and staffing, and establishing the salaries of their employees, always respecting the legally mandated minimum wage.
They will also be able to set prices in accordance with the provisions of the Ministry of Finance and Prices and conduct foreign trade operations directly when they have the corresponding authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment.
The increase in the size allowed for private companies, therefore, does not imply a complete liberalization of their activity.
The State maintains regulations on prices, banking operations, currency, foreign trade, and other aspects of its functioning.
Obligations and controls for the private sector
The regulations also establish a series of obligations for economic entities, including registering their operations through bank accounts, conducting sales in Cuban pesos except for legally established exceptions, complying with standards for the rational use of energy, and implementing internal control systems.
They must also comply with e-commerce legislation, provide the statistical information required by the authorities, and keep their data updated in the Commercial Registry.
The combination of new powers with supervision mechanisms reflects the model of limited opening applied by the Cuban authorities to the private sector, whose growth has been allowed in recent years while the State maintains broad regulatory powers.
A measure announced since June
The removal of the limit of 100 workers had been announced in June by the Cuban regime as part of a set of reforms aimed at changing the regulations under which non-state economic actors operate.
Among the changes announced at that time was also the elimination of the restriction that prevented the same person from owning multiple micro, small, and medium enterprises (mipymes) or non-agricultural cooperatives, a reduction of the prohibited activities for the private sector, and the simplification of certain procedures for the creation and transformation of businesses.
Rights of usufruct or surface rights for non-state economic actors and new possibilities for the importation and marketing of fuels, among other measures, were also proposed.
Decree-Law 133 now represents the legal realization of some of those transformations, particularly the removal of the worker limit and the recognition of a private business category above the maximum size previously established for medium-sized enterprises.
Part of the package of 176 measures of the regime
The reform was later incorporated into the package of 176 economic and social measures presented by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz to the National Assembly on June 18, 2026, during the Third Extraordinary Session of the X Legislature.
The authorities presented this set of measures as an attempt to restructure the Cuban economy, which has been affected by declining production, inflation, a shortage of foreign currency, prolonged blackouts, and the deterioration of basic services.
The recognition of larger private companies represents a significant shift from the model established when small and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes) were legalized in September 2021, after more than five decades without a formal private business sector of this kind in Cuba.
Since then, private businesses have gained importance in the island's economy, particularly in areas such as trade, services, gastronomy, transportation, and certain productions, in a context characterized by the struggles of the weakened state sector to meet the needs of the population.
The Gaceta includes additional regulations for economic actors
Alongside Decree-Law 133, Official Gazette No. 71 publishes three complementary provisions related to the operation of economic actors.
Resolution 98/2026 of the Central Bank of Cuba regulates the demand deposit of the initial capital intended for the establishment of companies.
For its part, Resolution 30/2026 from the Ministry of Education updates the procedure for overseeing activities carried out by non-state economic actors.
Resolution 2/2026 of the National Institute of Non-State Economic Actors regulates the procedures for the creation, merger, division, and dissolution of micro, small, and medium enterprises (mipymes), private companies with more than 100 workers, and non-agricultural cooperatives.
The implementation of these provisions marks a new step in the reconfiguration of the Cuban private sector: one of the main legal barriers to the growth of businesses has been removed, but their expansion remains subject to a broad framework of state authorization, regulation, and oversight.
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