The president of the Russian bank Novikom said that the new office guarantees interaction between Russian and Cuban companies in the fields of tourism, transportation, air navigation, fuel and energy, among others.

Novikom, a subsidiary bank of the state corporation Rostec, will open a representative office in Cuba to become Russia's first on the island, a sign that reinforces the growing economic ties between both political allies subject to US sanctions.

Thursday's announcement in a statement from Moscow occurs less than a week after the arrival at the port of Havana of a series of Russian warships and after both countries have signed several agreements in the last two years.

"The opening of a representative office of Novikom in the Republic of Cuba is not only a new stage for the bank, but also an important step in Russian-Cuban relations," said Elena Georgieva, president of the board of directors of Novikom.

The bank, he said, guarantees interaction between Russian and Cuban companies in the fields of tourism, transportation, air navigation, fuel and energy, among others.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the ties between both nations have been strengthened in recent years to become a "strategic partnership" with plans ranging from investments in sugar and transportation to the modernization of the Antillean Steel, the Russian flagship project on the island.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel has visited Moscow four times in recent years.