International

Cuba, Russia Trading Sugar and Oil: An agreement for Cuba to sell Russia 1 million tons of raw sugar in exchange for 2.5 million tons of oil this year is in the process of being implemented, an official Cuban newspaper reported. The weekly business newspaper Opciones quoted Cuban experts as saying the “ratification phase” of an agreement reached last December between the two countries had recently been concluded. The deal is crucial to Cuba, whose economy plunged into crisis after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of traditional trade and aid ties. Until the late 1980s, these ties included guaranteed markets for much of Cuba’s cane sugar and about 13 millions tons of Soviet oil a year. Cuban officials have said they expect Cuba’s 1993-94 sugar cane harvest, due to wind up in April or May, to be slightly better than last year’s disastrously low 4.2 million tons.