The Japan Times - Cubans ready for Russian oil but some say not enough

The Anatoly Kolodkin, a tanker under US sanctions carrying 730,000 barrels of crude, was due to arrive by Tuesday with the first shipment of oil to the communist-ruled island since January.

Trump's decision to let Russia deliver oil to Cuba avoids a confrontation with Moscow and provides a potential lifeline to a country that has endured blackouts, fuel rationing and dwindling public transportation.

"It's wonderful. Of course it's going to be a huge help given the situation we're facing in our country," Miriam Joseph, a 65-year-old government worker in Havana, told AFP.

Others said it was not enough to solve Cuba's crisis.

"It's a drop in the bucket compared to what this country needs. It means next to nothing," said Raul Pomares, a 56-year-old gardener waiting for a taxi in the capital.

"It's a symbolic gesture that won't have any real impact on the economy for ordinary Cubans," he added.

Moscow said Monday it was "pleased" that the tanker had reached Cuban waters.

"Russia considers it its duty to step up and provide necessary assistance to our Cuban friends," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov said Moscow and Washington had been in touch over the shipment.

"We don't mind having somebody get a boatload, because they need -- they have to survive," Trump said on Sunday.

"I told them, if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with that. Whether it's Russia or not," he said.

But he predicted that the oil delivery would have no impact as he renewed his threats against the Cuban government.

"Cuba's finished, they have a bad regime, they have very bad and corrupt leadership, and whether or not they get a boat of oil it's not going to matter," Trump said.

Cuba lost its main regional ally and oil supplier in January when US forces captured Venezuela's socialist leader Nicolas Maduro.

Trump subsequently threatened to impose tariffs on any country sending oil to Cuba and has mused about "taking" the island of 9.6 million people.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, whose country last sent crude to Cuba in January, said Monday that there are talks with private companies about buying oil from Mexico's state-owned energy company to sell it to private entities in Cuba.

Washington slightly eased the blockade last month to allow oil sales to Cuba's small private sector.

- Diesel for buses or power? -

The Anatoly Kolodkin was just north of central Cuba on Monday and is estimated to arrive at the western port of Matanzas by Tuesday morning, according to shipping tracker MarineTraffic.

It would take about 15-20 days to process the oil and another 5-10 days to deliver its refined products, according to Jorge Pinon, an expert on Cuba's energy sector at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Russian shipment could be converted into 250,000 barrels of diesel, enough to cover the country's demand for around 12.5 days, Pinon told AFP.

The government would have to decide whether to use the fuel for backup power generators or for buses, tractors and trains needed to keep the economy going for two weeks, he added.

"This little diesel that they have, which is not a lot, where do they prioritize it?" Pinon said.

The oil would likely not be used for Cuba's aging thermoelectric power plants, which rely on the country's own crude production.

Cubans have endured regular outages as the power plants struggle to meet demand, with seven nationwide blackouts since 2024, including two this month.

The blackouts as well as persistent shortages of food, medicine and other basics, have fueled public frustration and some rare protests.

Orlando Ocana, a 76-year-old retiree, said the Russian shipment was a "Band-Aid."

"It's a relief, but it's not the solution," he said. "The real solution to our problems is building new thermoelectric power plants."

T.Sato--JT