Canadian mining company Sherritt, specialized in nickel and cobalt, suspended its direct participation in a joint venture it maintained in Cuba. The decision was taken shortly before the US State Department detailed this Thursday the new sanctions against companies and people in the Caribbean country. The company reported that it has already requested by letter that former partners in Cuba repatriate their employees to Canada.
The US announced this afternoon that it is sanctioning, in addition to the joint venture Moa Nickel SA (MNSA) — for operating or having operated in the metals and mining sector of the Cuban economy —, the Grupo de Administración Empresarial (GAESA) and Ania Guillermina Lastres Moreira, executive of GAESA.
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According to the Department, these sanctions are part of the Trump administration’s “comprehensive campaign to address the serious national security threats posed by Cuba’s communist regime and hold the regime and those who provide it material or financial support accountable.”
The note goes on to say that, “just 90 miles from the American mainland, the Cuban regime brought the island to ruin and auctioned it off as a platform for foreign intelligence, military and terror operations.”
Partnership
In its latest financial statements, Sherritt said Moa is a vertically integrated joint venture that mines, processes and refines nickel and cobalt for sale worldwide — except in the United States.
The joint venture owns an open pit laterite ore mine and processing plant in Moa, Cuba, where the ore is processed into mixed sulphide ore (“MSP”) containing nickel and cobalt. The MSP is transported to the joint venture’s refinery in Alberta, Canada.
The resulting nickel and cobalt products are sold to various markets, mainly in Europe and Asia. The refining facilities in Fort Saskatchewan have a combined annual production capacity of approximately 38,200 tonnes.
According to the Canadian company, there is no immediate impact on the company’s operations in Fort Saskatchewan. “The refinery continues to produce finished nickel and cobalt for sale. Feed stock available for this production should last until approximately mid-June.”
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Also according to Sherritt, Brian Imrie, Richard Moat and Brett Richards have resigned from the corporation’s board of directors with immediate effect.
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In the official note from the US State Department, it is mentioned that GAESA is a conglomerate controlled by the Cuban military, and “is the heart of Cuba’s kleptocratic communist system”.
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Controlling around 40% or more of the island’s economy, GAESA is involved in several sectors of the Cuban economy and was structured to generate income not for the Cuban people, but solely for the benefit of its corrupt elites. “According to recent public estimates, GAESA’s revenues are likely more than three times the state budget, and GAESA likely controls up to $20 billion in illicit assets,” the statement reads.
Regarding MNSA, a joint venture between Sherritt International Corporation and the Cuban state-owned La Compañia General de Níquel, it is said that the company exploited Cuba’s natural resources “to benefit the regime at the expense of the Cuban people.” “It makes a profit from assets that were originally expropriated by the Cuban regime from US individuals and legal entities.”
The sanctions statement warns that foreign persons who engage in transactions with persons designated under the Executive Order – or who operate in the sectors of energy, defense and related materials, metals and mining, financial services or security of the Cuban economy, as identified in the same Order – are also at risk of sanctions.
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“Non-U.S. persons, including foreign financial institutions, should proceed with caution in any type of business relationship with a sanctioned party under this authority. Actions to return assets to a sanctioned party or transfer them to another jurisdiction with potential use by the target may expose non-U.S. persons to significant sanctions risk.”
