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Cuba offers rum to pay US$276m Czech debt
Cuba has come up with an unusual way to repay its multi-million dollar debt to the Czech Republic – by offering rum and pharmaceuticals rather than money.
Cuba owes the Czech authorities US$276m, and if accepted the Czechs would have enough Cuban rum for more than a century
Cuba owes the Czech authorities US$276m, and if the offer is accepted, the Czechs would have enough Cuban rum for more than a century.
The Czech finance ministry are still in talks over the final sum with the agreements in “early stages”.
According to the Associated Press, finance ministry spokesman Michael Zurovec said the Czechs would still prefer the debt was at least partly paid in cash.
Havana’s debt dates back from the Cold War era – when Cuba and what was at the time Czechoslovakia were part of the communist bloc.
According to the Czech Statistics Office, the Czechs imported rum from Cuba worth over US$2 million last year.
In November, the Havana Club trademark battle between Pernod Ricard and Bacardi Limited could be set for a new twist as US president-elect Donald Trump threatens to freeze US-Cuba relations.