The Mozambican state is awaiting the decision of a London court judge on whether or not to admit the appeal lodged by Privinvest in relation to the payments that the shipbuilder was ordered to make to Mozambique.
After being ordered to pay around 2 billion dollars in compensation to Mozambique as part of the ‘hidden debts case’, the shipbuilder Privinvest, from the United Arab Emirates, has requested permission to appeal the decision of the London Commercial Court.
In a report published on Thursday 14 November, the newspaper explained that Privinvest has asked for the payment to be suspended while its appeal is heard, in which it cites, among other reasons, Mozambique’s failure to disclose important official documents.
‘In its judgement on the losses arising from the illegal issuing of guarantees by former Finance Minister Manuel Chang on loans to ProIndicus, EMATUM and MAM, the court also arbitrated compensation of 1.9 billion dollars plus interest that Privinvest must pay to the state,’ it said.
According to the ruling, Mozambique should receive 80 per cent of the costs due from Privinvest as reimbursement for all the legal costs of the case (judicial costs). In setting the costs, the judge also ruled that the company must advance 20 million dollars as a deposit to the court in favour of Mozambique.
In its reasoning, the court found that the Privinvest Group, acting through its managers, namely Iskandar Safa and Jean Boustani, paid at least 7 million dollars in bribes to the former finance minister to induce him to execute the guarantees.
This figure reflects the amounts that the state has already paid under the guarantees, including capital, interest, fees and Eurobonds, after taking over EMATUM, and the transaction agreements that the country reached initially with Credit Suisse and other banks and financial institutions, and more recently with Russia’s VTB and Portugal’s BCP.
The hidden debt scandal dates back to 2013 and 2014, when the then Finance Minister, Manuel Chang, now in detention in the United States, approved state guarantees on loans from ProIndicus, Ematum and MAM to the banks Credit Suisse and VTB, without the consent of parliament.
Discovered in 2016, the debts were estimated at 170.6 billion meticals (2.7 billion dollars), according to figures presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
