A note from the Department of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (MINX), posted on its website, states that Havana’s ambassador to Ottawa, Josefina Vidal, welcomed Leon Bendel, the new president and CEO of Sharett International Corp., and David Pathy, who previously held the position.
Minx reported that the diplomat expressed her gratitude to both of them for their contributions to the economic development of the Caribbean country.
On the island of Cheret, it has had a joint venture with the state since 1995 to exploit deposits and other investments in the energy sector.
The Comandante Pedro Sotto Alba-Moa Nickel SA plant, operated by the Canadian entity, has achieved its plans to extract nickel plus cobalt by 101 percent in 2020, while offsetting restrictions on another similar plant, national authorities reported last December.
Currently, the Caribbean country ranks ninth in the world in nickel production and is the fifth world reserve of this metal and the third cobalt.
The Toronto-based company is maintaining business in Cuba despite the tightening of the US embargo, with Title III of the Helms-Burton Act in force during the Donald Trump administration.
This measure, designed to discourage foreign investment, allows for a claim in United States courts for compensation for property nationalized on the island’s lands when the Revolution triumphed in 1959.
However, the Cuban government has confirmed that foreign companies enjoy a full legal guarantee based on Law 80 on Reassertion of Cuban Dignity and Sovereignty, as well as other provisions adopted to guarantee foreign investments in the country, according to the Minx memorandum.
J / CRC
