“Cuba greatly appreciates foreign companies,” according to Tokmakjian

"Cuba greatly appreciates foreign companies," according to Tokmakjian /
14ymedio
Posted on October 1, 2014

In 2010 the Canadian businessman stressed his full confidence in the
Island's authorities in an interview with Excelencias del Motor magazine.

14ymedio, Havana, 30 September 2014 — A year before his arrest in Havana
in September 2011, for a host of crimes (bribery, fraud, trafficking in
foreign currency, forgery, tax evasion, acts to the detriment of the
national economy), the Canadian businessman Cy Tokmakjian, sentenced
last week to 15 years in prison, made very positive statements about the
business climate in Cuba.

In an interview published in January 2010 in Excelencias del Motor
magazine, belonging to a Spanish group with representation on the
Island, the owner of the Tokmakjian Group spoke of the success of his
company and its projects after 21 years in Cuba.

At that time, the company was expanding with the opening of the
technical facilities of Wajay (Havana), Camaguey and Moa (Holguin),
which had helped increase the number of Cuban employees from 140 to 230
workers.

The Tokmakjian Group, according to its founder, intended to use Cuban
specialists for trade with the rest of Latin America, especially Panama,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. The businessman
introduced high-tech equipment to manufacture products in Cuba, "to
solve national problems quickly and export from this country," through
joint ventures.

"We have to maneuver carefully not to lose the investment, the support
and the confidence we have in Cuba"

Cy Tokmakjian showed no fear, faced with the ravages of the global
economic crisis. "I've been in Cuba 21 years, I know the current
situation in the country. During the years 1991 and 1992, the situation
was no better, we are 'accustomed' to working in difficult times," he
explained. "The parent company in Canada trusts Cuba and the Cubans,
which allows flexible receipts and payments; we expect Cuba will
recover; we will continue doing business. However, we have to maneuver
carefully, not to lose the investment, the support and the confidence we
have in Cuba. We are all working on this together, Canadians and
Cubans," he added.

"Cuba greatly appreciates the foreign companies that continue to work in
Cuba through difficult times. Together, Cubans and Canadians, we
maintain an ethic, a principle, and mutual assistance," he revealed.

Source: "Cuba greatly appreciates foreign companies," according to
Tokmakjian / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-greatly-appreciates-foreign-companies-according-to-tokmakjian-14ymedio/