Russian state lender VTB has filed a lawsuit in Britain’s High Court against a Mozambican government company to try and recover a $535mn loan it made to the government for an ambitious project to develop the country’s natural resources that ended in disaster.

VTB together with Credit Suisse lent the country a total of $2bn that ended in scandal after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claimed the loan was made secretly and millions of dollars were siphoned off as bribes, as bne IntelliNews reported in November in the feature “Debt deals in Mozambique that go wrong”.

The IMF then cut the country’s credit off in 2016 plunging it into an economic crisis and spawning a welter of legal cases that are still working their way through courts around the world.

The money was supposed to be used to develop a large hydrocarbon deposit and build up the country’s fishing industry, one of the most fecund in the world, amongst other things. While some of the infrastructure was built, in the end the project flopped.

Two Credit Suisse bankers admitted to receiving a $50mn kickback for arranging the loan and both have been charged with financial crimes. During a recent trial in New York the VTB banker involved in the loan deal, Makroum Abboud, was also accused of receiving a $2m kickback. VTB said it had investigated the affair and found no wrongdoing. Abboud has not been charged with wrongdoing and even received a promotion at the bank.

At the time of bne IntelliNews’ reporting VTB said it was confident its money would be repaid but clearly it has become impatient and is now taking the Mozambique government to court to recover the funds.

The London filing, dated December 23, names as defendants the Mozambique state and Mozambique Asset Management, which were the counterparties in the $535mn loan from VTB.

It says the case relates to “general commercial contracts and arrangements” but does not elaborate. It provides no further information other than that VTB Capital, the investment banking arm of VTB, is being represented by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, reports Russia Business Today.

VTB did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, and Mozambique’s Attorney General’s Office said it was waiting for formal notification of the lawsuit, according to reports.

Ties between Russia and Africa have been improving as the Kremlin expands its foreign policy drive to improve ties with non-Western countries as part of its showdown with Washington and Brussels. Moscow hosted a large Africa summit last year with the heads of state from over two dozen countries in attendance. Ties with Mozambique in particular have been in improving after Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi joined the delegation to the Africa summit in August.