Recently, it became known that the Deputy Mayor of Transport and Industry of Moscow, Maxim Liksutov, and the Minister of Transport of Cuba, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, signed a memorandum under which this Eurasian country will deliver modern Moskvitch brand vehicles to the island to be used as taxis there, within the framework of the favorable relations existing between the governments of both nations.
The formalization of the agreement took place during the recent visit of the Cuban president to Russia. Liksutov promised to send from Moscow to Cuba an initial shipment of fifty vehicles of the aforementioned brand, highlighting the possibility of adapting their multimedia systems to the Spanish language in order to contribute to their more efficient use in the largest of the Antilles.
The cars will become part of the taxi fleets in Havana and Varadero in order to alleviate the transportation crisis in the Caribbean nation, so that residents of these provinces will be able to use them and travel in a comfortable and safe manner. Although it is worth noting that there is a high probability that this service will be charged in foreign currency.
According to a statement shared on Telegram by the Moscow Department of Transport, a working team was formed to implement this initiative that will be responsible for designing a viable business model for the insertion of these taxis in these destinations.
The Deputy Mayor emphasized his government's interest in promoting international cooperation in the field of transportation, detailing that the Russian capital is fully prepared to provide Cuba with its technology and accumulated knowledge.
Liksutov added: "We support the intention of our Cuban partners to develop urban transport and make travel more comfortable and safe."
The agreement emerges in a context in which the transport situation on the island is a real mess due to multiple factors, including the lack of fuel and spare parts, the obsolete nature of the existing vehicle fleet, the dire conditions of the elements that make up the road infrastructure, mainly streets and highways, and the lack of resources to reverse this complex situation.
The effects of this terrible situation are felt not only by public transport but also by private transport, significantly affecting the transportation possibilities of the Antilleans and slowing the growth of the economy.
It is worth pointing out that although the Cuban government has turned to Russia and China in recent years to try to introduce certain renovations to its vehicle fleet through the signing of agreements, the truth is that the problems in the transportation sector on the island persist and in the current context the state of this is extremely alarming.
Trade relations between Cuba and Russia involving “Soviet cars” are quite old. After a 12-year pause, in 2017, the largest car manufacturer in the Eurasian country, AvtoVAZ, resumed exporting cars to the Caribbean nation, sending 320 Lada vehicles of the Vesta and Largus Cross models. These cars were intended for tourism and to provide taxi services, and technical support was guaranteed for their proper operation.
The Russians reactivated the production of Moskvitch in 2022, a brand that gained great popularity in Cuba since the 70s, since it is no secret that these cars were given to the island's workers as a work incentive.
