By RFIPosted on 07-01-2020Modified on 07-01-2020 at 23:58

The Russian bank VTB has launched legal proceedings against Mozambique to obtain the repayment of a loan of 535 million dollars contracted within the framework of the scandal known as of the “hidden debt”. A debt that plunged the country into crisis.

The Russian bank had so far been discreet since the outbreak of the scandal and the first legal proceedings. But VTB eventually filed a complaint in the United Kingdom in the hope of recovering its funds. The complaint dates from December 23, but it was not made public until Tuesday.

In a statement, the Russian public bank said it had been negotiating for three years with its Mozambican debtor, without results. Maputo confirmed on Tuesday the existence of legal proceedings launched by the Russian bank against MAM (Mozambique Asset Management), one of the three Mozambican public companies at the heart of the hidden debt scandal.

Between 2013 and 2014, MAM and two other companies, including Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company), took out $ 2 billion in loans from Credit Suisse and VTB to finance maritime surveillance, fishing and shipyard projects. An approach that has been hidden from the Mozambican Parliament and institutional donors, starting with the International Monetary Fund; it was not discovered until 2016.

Consequence: international aid is suspended, leaving Mozambique grappling with a serious financial crisis. While the Russian bank just wants to recover its debt, several legal proceedings launched in the United States, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Mozambique have led to the arrest of more than 20 people, including the former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang .

Over the next 10 years, the country will have to devote part of the revenues from major gas projects to paying off the scandalous debt. Hundreds of millions of dollars, which could have financed development projects.

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