Russia is exploring the possibility of creating a common trade maritime route to Latin America

Russia is considering the possibility of creating a common trade maritime route for Latin American countries to reduce transportation costs, said Boris Titov, Commissioner for Business Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, President of the Russia-Cuba Business Council.

“The idea is to create a single transport system that concentrates goods from Latin America to Russia and from Russia to a Latin American port so that the longest part of the journey is common to everyone and therefore cheaper,” he said at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. dedicated to relations between Russia and Latin America.

Subsequently, he explained, the goods concentrated in these logistics centers will be distributed by local carriers, and recalled the changes in the logistics chain after the start of the war in Ukraine, which led to increased costs.

If earlier the transfer of goods from Russia to Latin America “cost about 6 thousand dollars, now it costs at least 20 thousand”, Boris Titov said, noting that “naturally, this damages the economy of mutual trade.”

The Russian businessman pointed out that while “there are several promising ports” in Latin America, one of the favorites is the port of Mariel, west of Havana, attractive “because of its geographic location” and economic opportunities.

In 2015, Cuba created a special economic zone in this port, located 45 kilometers from the Cuban capital, where foreign businessmen are offered a special tax and customs regime to encourage investment and locate production in the country.

Last week, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz proposed to the post-Soviet Eurasian Economic Union, a Russian-led organization, that they create an industrial park in the economic zone that would open up Russian investment to the Latin American market. American.