Delegation of Belarusian Emergencies Ministry to visit Cuba

On 7-8 December, a delegation of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry headed by Minister Vadim Sinyavsky will pay a working visit to the Republic of Cuba at the invitation of Chief of Cuba's Civil Defense National Staff Division General Ramón Pardo Guerra, BelTA learned from the Emergencies Ministry.

The visit is the next step in the development of Belarusian-Cuban cooperation in the field of prevention and response to emergency situations after the Belarusian side handed over humanitarian aid to Cuba to overcome the consequences of the explosion at the oil depot in the port of Matanzas in November 2023, the ministry informed.

"In August 2022, as a result of a strong fire at an oil storage facility, 16 people were killed, 130 were injured. The man-made disaster was the largest in the history of Cuba. On the instructions by the Belarusian president, the Emergencies Ministry sent a humanitarian cargo by sea. It included food and medicines worth more than Br600,000," the ministry said.

It was the second time that Belarus had provided friendly support to Cuba. In February 2022, Belarus lent a helping hand to Cuba in overcoming the crisis caused by the tightening of U.S. economic sanctions. Then Belarus delivered a cargo consisting of medicines and food worth more than Br1 million.

The talks in Havana are expected to focus on cooperation in the protection of the population and territories from emergency situations, personnel training, material and technical support for fire rescue teams, and humanitarian response.

The Belarusian Emergencies Ministry is set to sign two agreements on cooperation with Cuba's National Civil Defense Staff and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Vadim Sinyavsky will also take part in the 11th international congress on natural disasters and will make a report on the priority areas of Belarus' state policy in the field of protecting the population and territories from emergencies and reducing the risk of their occurrence.