Cuban President Raul Castro and Russian oil company Rosneft’s chief meet in Havana

Venezuela’s subsidised shipments have fallen by at least 40 per cent since 2014. Cuba is looking for new suppliers to help mitigate electricity and fuel rationing to state companies.

By: Reuters | Havana | Published: December 18, 2017 1:26 am

Raul Castro and Russian oil company Rosneft's chief meet

Rosneft, Russia’s state-run oil company, began shipping some fuel in May to Cuba even as the United States under Donald Trump began reversing a fragile detente begun by former US President Barack Obama. They were the first significant Russian fuel deliveries since the early 1990s. (Photo: Reuters)

Cuban President Raul Castro and the head of Russian oil company Rosneft met in Havana on Saturday, the latest sign the two countries are readying a major energy agreement. State-controlled media on Sunday ran a photograph of Castro and Igor Sechin sitting with notebooks at a table with Economy Minister Ricardo Cabrisa, after the latter two had held what was termed in a brief caption “a working meeting”.