CIMEX Buys U.S. Fuel from Cuban Private Businesses and Resells It, Documents Show

CIMEX buys fuel imported from the United States from Cuban private businesses and sets resale prices for that gasoline and diesel at its service stations. Internal documents from the commercial corporation belonging to the military conglomerate GAESA show those transactions, according to an investigation by ADN Cuba founder and journalist Gelet Martínez-Fragela, published Friday, October 23, jointly with Martí Noticias.

The CIMEX fuel purchases matter because Washington permits fuel exports to Cuba for private-sector use. Under Commerce Department guidance, that authorization does not cover transactions that primarily generate revenue for the Cuban state, and CIMEX belongs to GAESA, a conglomerate sanctioned by the United States.

How CIMEX fuel purchases from private businesses work, according to the documents

According to ADN Cuba, the material includes dozens of circulars issued by CIMEX’s commercial management between May and September 2026. They identify 21 fuel suppliers, at least 16 of them micro, small or medium-sized private enterprises, known in Cuba as mipymes. Each circular lists three prices: purchase, wholesale and retail.

For private suppliers, CIMEX retained a margin of 17 to 30 cents per liter, approximately 10%. The list also includes state-owned CUPET, Tourism Ministry importer ITH, the Cuban subsidiary of Mexico’s Richmeat, an entity called Talleres Castro and Florida-based Cubamax. For Cubamax, the documents do not specify whether the transactions were completed or under what authorization.

A footnote in one summary says fuel intended for the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) is charged at cost, $2.50 per liter. The note identifies neither the supplier nor the volume.

Tracing a tank container between Mariel and Miami

The best-documented case involves KRV Partes y Piezas, a Havana private automotive services business. September circulars list it as a supplier of B-90 gasoline at $2.20 per liter, with wholesale resale at $2.30 and retail resale at $2.40.

On September 21, CIMEX-Mariel invoiced more than 23,000 liters of gasoline to one of its own Oro Negro service stations at $2.25 per liter. The invoice reference includes KRV’s initials and tank container number PCVU2666813. ADN Cuba searched U.S. import manifests for that number: the container returned empty from Mariel to Miami on October 3 aboard the Seaboard Ranger, declared as containing gasoline residue. A source familiar with operations at Mariel confirmed to the outlet that KRV supplied that fuel to CIMEX-Mariel.

Another private business, Magenta Logística SURL, sold at least one tank container of fuel to CIMEX in July, according to two independent sources cited by ADN Cuba. Its gasoline was listed in June at $3.00 per liter, among the highest prices in the documents.

This is not the first time the route has drawn attention. On April 22, Cubanos por el Mundo published exclusive footage of a ship carrying tank containers departing Miami. The navigation record shown in the video lists departure on April 16 and estimated arrival at Mariel on April 21. “Where is the blockade?” Alex Otaola asked at the time. Since March, he had been alleging that fuel shipped in the name of private businesses was ending up in the regime’s hands. The documents now obtained by ADN Cuba describe specific CIMEX purchases from private businesses, identifying suppliers and prices.

State-linked companies behind the return shipments

The investigation also traced the listed shippers when empty tank containers return to Florida. One recurring name is SERLOVEM SURL, an importer based in the same Vedado building as the Foreign Trade Business Group (GECOMEX). The State Department designated GECOMEX on July 13, 2026. According to ADN Cuba, since May SERLOVEM has appeared as shipper for more than 440 tank containers with fuel residue, 319 after that sanction, consigned to 12 U.S. companies.

Another participant is Agencia Marítima Taína S.A., incorporated in the British Virgin Islands with an office in Havana, which has appeared in 1,628 tank container returns since April. Its representative, Andrés Ernesto Muñoz Campos, was a director of Caroil Transport Marine, a now-dissolved Cypriot shipping company that Treasury sanctioned in 2019 for transporting Venezuelan oil to Cuba. Muñoz Campos is not personally listed under sanctions.

The report adds that an August video from Pinar del Río shows two trucks belonging to Tabacuba, the state tobacco group, carrying tank containers whose numbers match containers that later returned empty to Miami. The records do not identify the fuel buyer.

Tank containers at state facilities had already raised questions. On Sunday, October 11, a gasoline-filled container caught fire at Azutecnia’s T-22 workshop in Manzanillo, Granma. Azutecnia is linked to state sugar group Azcuba. Five people were injured, one critically, according to the provincial Communist Party leadership. The causes have not been officially confirmed. In an October 16 Cubanos por el Mundo video, Otaola asked why fuel imported by private businesses was being stored at a state workshop.

Archive video published by Cubanos por el Mundo on October 16, 2026, after a tank container fire at a state workshop in Manzanillo. It was recorded before the CIMEX documents were released.

What U.S. rules allow

Fuel exports to the island operate under the Support for the Cuban People (SCP) license exception. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) guidance clarifies that the exception does not cover transactions that primarily generate revenue for the Cuban state or contribute to its operations, and that exporters are responsible for meeting those conditions.

On February 25, during a visit to St. Kitts and Nevis, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned reporters that licenses would be revoked if the private sector was found to be diverting fuel to the regime or its military enterprise.

On the Cuban side, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy told Reuters on October 12 that no state company had secured fuel contracts and denied any connection to shipments intercepted by the United States, as Cubanos por el Mundo reported. The CIMEX documents describe another route: rather than importing directly, the corporation buys what private businesses import.

A Cuban importer told ADN Cuba that his U.S. supplier required him to sign a declaration stating that the fuel was for private use. According to the outlet, that document does not expressly prohibit resale to CIMEX. An industry source added that some private businesses use state service stations only to store their own fuel, but the invoices and circulars obtained show purchases and sales.

Archive video: Cubanos por el Mundo report published June 20, 2026, on the business of fuel tank containers arriving in Cuba. It predates the CIMEX documents report.

No response from the companies named

ADN Cuba sought comment before publication. CIMEX, GAESA, MINFAR and the Ministry of Energy and Mines did not respond to a request sent through the Cuban Embassy in Washington. KRV, Magenta, SERLOVEM, Cubamax, Agencia Marítima Taína and Seaboard Marine also did not respond. Shipping company Crowley said it provides services to Cuba only with U.S. government approval and when shipments comply with federal rules. BIS said its response was in the final stages of approval.

The report is the first installment of an ADN Cuba and Martí Noticias series on the presence of state enterprises and people close to the regime in the fuel import business, which expanded this year and helped push U.S. exports to Cuba to record levels. Meanwhile, blackouts continue to shape daily life on the island.