The supply in Cuban warehouses of some of the supplies included in the standard family food basket suffers delays due to the non-timely arrival of imported raw materials -even those already paid to their suppliers- and interruptions in production flows.

In an interview with the Cuban News Agency, the Minister of Domestic Trade, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, explained that due to the temporary stoppage of the production of cigars for lack of supplies which arrived in the country at the end of January, only what was left in the inventories corresponding to December could be sold to the people.

In February, the distribution of this input should be reestablished, according to the decisions of each territory, their plans and the availability of each province, Velázquez stressed and clarified that in the current conditions of shortage, the sale will not cease to be regulated.

He pointed out that on January 28, the transportation of coffee volumes for the month itself to the warehouses of the wholesale trade units concluded, so that even though its sale in the warehouses is established to be carried out from the first day, the cycle in the retail network was delayed.

As a result of these incidents, in February a shift in the dates of coffee commercialization is also foreseen.

The head of MINCIN added that in the case of cleaning products, due to the pressures exerted by the U.S. blockade on Cuba, the raw materials did not arrive on time either, which affected the production cycle, mainly that of washing soap, so the January quota will be completed in February.

Regarding sugar, ACN informed that, due to the problems with the beginning of the sugar harvest, the warehouses will initially offer one or two pounds of sugar per capita during February, until its delivery is gradually completed.

This situation caused that in the eastern part of the country only raw sugar is sold to the population, and in Havana refined sugar is maintained, a measure that will be relegated as soon as the industry guarantees the deliveries established for national consumption.

Given the limited volumes of powdered milk, its distribution is prioritized for children, pregnant women and children's chronic diets.

"Those for the first 15 days of February are already guaranteed but we still do not support all the diets because the necessary quantities of powdered milk do not reach the country and this forces us to prioritize the population groups that need it the most", assured Díaz Velázquez.

The ACN note clarifies that the medical diets remain in force as long as, together with the Ministry of Public Health, all the cases that meet the requirements to receive them are not reviewed in the territories, and then a resolution will be issued between the two agencies.