BRAZIL GRANTS TELECOM CREDIT.

The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) has granted Cuba a US$60 million credit to purchase wireless communications equipment and may grant more loans, said Renato Sucupira, the bank's head of exports, reports Reuters (Nov. 6, 2002). "We also may finance a joint venture to produce ethanol, the expansion of Cuba's nickel industry and other projects," he said:

Bilateral relations have improved in recent years and are expected to strengthen further under president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a friend of Cuban President Fidel Castro. The US$60 million credit will be used by Cuba's Cubacel to purchase equipment from the Brazilian subsidiary of the Swedish firm Ericsson, Sucupira said. Cubacel is a joint venture between the Cuban Communications and Information Ministry and Canada's Sherritt International Corp., which also has investments here in nickel, oil, gas, food processing and tourism;

BNDES granted US$25 million to Cuba in October to purchase urban bus parts and is considering another US$10 million credit for tourism buses, Sucupira said, adding there were no payment problems with similar loans granted in recent years. Brazil-based Busscar and two Cuban state-run companies operate Transbus Industria S.A. The joint venture assembly plant, which reported turning out 400 urban, tour and mini buses in 2001, was idled this year due to a lack of orders and financing;

Banco du Brazil provides Cuba with a humanitarian US$15 million per year long-term credit to purchase food. Bilateral trade was US$167 million in 2001, Cuba reported. Along with Busscar, Brazil's Souza Cruz S.A., in which British American Tobacco Plc has a majority interest, operates a joint venture cigarette company, BrasCuba, on the island.

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Copyright 2002