London, Oct. 16, 2024 (Lusa) - The ETG conglomerate on Wednesday demanded in an arbitration court that the Mozambican state pay more than €110 million in damages for losses caused by the judicial seizure of the firm's assets in a dispute over the export of pigeon peas.
"Today, the ETG Group filed a request for arbitration claiming damages totalling more than US$120 million [more than €110 million] against the Republic of Mozambique for the state's role in the expropriation of ETG's products, in violation of its investor rights in the country," the Mauritian business group said in a statement.
Due to the investment protection agreement between the states of Mozambique and Mauritius, although the case was prepared by lawyers in London, the arbitration court that will analyse the case will be defined at a later date.
The conglomerate accuses the Mozambican state of having orchestrated and facilitated the illegal expropriation of assets, violated the norm of ‘fair and equitable treatment’, as well as resorting to coercion and harassment of workers.
On the other hand, the Mozambican government "did not guarantee ETG's right to export goods without any restrictions", the statement continues.
"ETG has tried numerous times to resolve the issue amicably with the state, but all efforts to date have been in vain. ETG therefore has no alternative but to initiate investment arbitration against Mozambique in order to recover the losses it has suffered at the hands of the state," the statement said.
The company says that on 17 January 2024, it filed a notice of dispute against the Mozambican government for its alleged illegal actions in relation to its assets and business activities and, on 13 May 2024, it again questioned the authorities on the same matter, warning of its intention to resort to arbitration.
"Unfortunately, there has been no serious attempt by the Mozambican government to resolve the matter," reads the statement.
As a result, ETG's operations in Mozambique, says the group, have been substantially jeopardised, causing significant damage to the country, the region and the company.
In May, the conglomerate threatened to go to international arbitration courts over the dispute it has had for months in Mozambique with RGL over the export of pigeon beans.
The position is set out in a letter sent by ETG to the attorney general's office, in which the conglomerate, which has been operating in Mozambique for 25 years, recalls that it has been trying for several months to recover a cargo of agricultural products worth US$55 million (€50.6 million) seized in the port of Nacala, in the north of the country, as part of the dispute.
On 1 February, Lusa reported that the Nacala-Port court had decided "not to comply" with the Mozambican Attorney General's Office, which had ordered the case against Royal Group Limitada (RGL) and competitor ETG over the export of pigeon peas to India to be closed, leading to the seizure of the conglomerate's agricultural products.
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