MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Shape up or ship out”, Cuban communist party tells unprofitable companies

Raul Castro reforms can end an unprofitable company or pass it no the private sector

Cuban government companies and cooperatives repeatedly “inefficient” (non profitable) will be handed to the private sector or liquidated, according to the reforms program approved by the island’s VI Communist Party congress and which was officially published Monday.

Companies with problems “will be submitted to a liquidation process or can be transformed into other non government management mechanisms (private, cooperative or mixed), thus complying with what is established for that purpose”, reads the text in the official gazette.

Specific problems are described as “sustained losses in the financial balance sheet, insufficient capital or unable to honour with assets contracted debts or repeated negative results in financial auditing”.

According to the 313 measures approved and which compile the reforms promoted by the Cuban regime under President Raul Castro, industries or equipments that become redundant or obsolete for the state to continue exploiting rationally can also be passed on to the private sector.

The set of reforms from the Communist Party also includes “promoting the participation in Cuba of foreign investment, as a source for the creation of jobs”, reads the document published Monday.

In the original April version of the congress’ reforms to rule the political, social and economic life of Cuba, there was no mention to the fact that foreign investment must develop “new sources of employment” as pre-condition to operate in the island.