HAVANA.- A new batch of Russian locomotives of the TGM8 model arrived at the port of Havana, a day before the official visit to Cuba of Russian PM Dmitri Medvedev, the national television reported.

Rolando Navarro, deputy director of the Railways Union of Cuba (UFC), said the locomotives will be allocated to the central and eastern provinces of the country.

The UFC official added that the shipment responds to a contract signed last January with the Russian locomotives manufacturer SINARA, which establishes an acquisition of 75 machines in the next five years, 15 every year.

The new acquisition is expected to help alleviate the difficulties in interprovincial transport caused by fuel deficit and shortage of spare parts for maintenance in the Caribbean island.

The arrival in Cuba of this lot of locomotives coincides with the preparation for the official two-day visit that Medvedev will make from today to Cuba.
It was also known that top executives of SINARA will arrive today in Havana.