In 2013 Credit Suisse and VTB lent $1.1 billion to two publicly-owned companies in Mozambique from their offices in London.
Details of the loans were not made public, and they were never approved by Mozambique’s parliament – in direct contravention of the country’s constitution.
Civil society groups in Mozambique have condemned the loans as ‘illegal’, called for prosecutions of officials and say the people of Mozambique should refuse to pay. But because the loans were made in London, the banks could try and use London courts to demand repayment plus interest.
Please tell Credit Suisse and VTB to drop these secret debts.
“In defence of the common good and against the continued impoverishment of the Mozambican people, we do not want, do not accept and will not pay these illegal debts.”
– Statement by 26 civil society groups in Mozambique, June 2016
