Prague, Feb 4 (CTK) – Czech health care firms are interested in doing business with Cuba and that is why representatives of some of them are on the delegation that leaves with Health Minister Miloslav Ludvik (Social democrats, CSSD) for Cuba Saturday.
According to the information CTK has received from the Foreign Ministry, the business delegation will be comprised of representatives from five health care firms.
“The goal of the trip is to open up opportunities for the supplies of implants to the Cuban centralised market, Karel Volenec, executive secretary of Ella-CS firm, wrote to CTK.
The firm, which has a seat in Hradec Kralove, east Bohemia, makes various kinds of stents which are used in the treatment of the gullet, and cranial and ophthalmological implants.
In 2015, it had a profit of 15.5 million crowns before tax (PBT) and it sold its own products for 122 million crowns.
The delegation also includes representatives of the medicines distributing firm Alliance Healthcare, the National Tissue Centre, which focuses on the development and production of curative preparations based on human cells, and the producer of medical beds, Linet firm.
Agel Group, owned by steel magnate Tomas Chrenek, which operates health care facilities in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, will also be represented on the delegation.
The group’s profit before tax reached 740.8 million crowns in 2015. Radka Milosevska, spokeswoman for AGEL, wrote to CTK that the delegation should map cooperation opportunities, both in health care and in business.
Th trip, which was planned under Ludvik’s predecessor Svatopluk Nemecek (CSSD) already, follows up a visit by a delegation comprised of representatives of the health, foreign and agriculture ministries to Cuba in September.
Ludvik replaced Nemecek as of November 30.
During the visit, Ludvik will be received by his Cuban counterpart Roberto Morales Ojeda.
They are scheduled to sign a memorandum of cooperation in health care and medical research.
“A deeper discussion on possibilities of financing clinical studies of curative preparations developed in Cuba and exchange of experinece in educational programmes for doctors and nurses will be waged during the visit,” the Health Ministry wrote on its web page.
It wrote that Cuba has an “enormous interest” in Czech experience in operating the rescue service.
The possibility of repayment of the Cuban debt that amounted to more than 6.9 billion crowns in civilian credits as from the end of 2015 is also to be discussed during the visit.
The possibility of repayment of a part of the debt with the supplies of most specialised medicines is being checked.
Negotiations about paying off the debt will also be held in March when Agriculture Minister Marin Jurecka (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) will lead a delegation of his ministry and the Finance Ministry to Cuba.
Czech-Cuban relations have been changing in the past years. Czech diplomacy has abandoned the traditional strict support for human rights and it focuses more on economic cooperation.
This trend was also confirmed by the filling of the post of ambassador to Cuba last September after 27 years. The post was assumed by Vladimir Eisenbruk.
($1=24.867 crowns)
