Russia's GAZ automaker plans to resume assembly, launch sales office in Cuba - Deputy PM Chernyshenko

MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko has announced plans to resume assembly of GAZ vehicles and open a sales office in Cuba, as well as implement a project to establish a Moskvich taxi fleet in Havana, this year.

"We plan to resume assembly of GAZ vehicles and open a sales office in Cuba in 2026. We plan to move forward soon with the practical implementation of the project to establish a taxi fleet in Havana in cooperation with the Moscow government. The Russian side will thus provide 50 Moskvich vehicles," Chernyshenko's press service quoted him as saying at a meeting of the intergovernmental Russia-Cuba commission on trade, economic, scientific, and technical cooperation in St. Petersburg.

Among the intergovernmental commission's achievements for 2025 were a 20% increase in imports from Cuba, progress in implementing a joint project to enhance oil recovery at the Boca de Jaruco field, the launch of shipments of Russian GAZ, UAZ, Kamaz , and Lada vehicles, with over 230 units of machinery and equipment exported to the country over the past two years, and the delivery of approximately six tonnes of substances for pharmaceutical production, Chernyshenko said.

Moreover, the bilateral cooperation includes shipping vehicle kits for the assembly of the UAZ vehicle line launched at Cuba's Comprehensive Automotive Services Enterprise (EISA) in 2025.