Mozambique has dropped a substantial part of its claim against Emirati/Lebanese shipbuilder Privinvest over the "tuna bonds" scandal, just days after settling its case against Credit Suisse, Reuters reports quoting London's High Court on Thursday.

Mozambican lawyer Jonathan Adkin said on Thursday that the republic was no longer suing Privinvest and its owner Iskandar Safa for "economic loss", without providing a figure for the claim.

Court documents from last month show that the Mozambican government was asking for around 830 million dollars for losses suffered between 2016 and 2018, which represents a large part of its case.

The case centers on agreements signed by Mozambican state-owned companies with Privinvest to guarantee loans and bonds from banks such as Credit Suisse in 2013 and 2014, backed by undisclosed state guarantees, apparently for fishing boats and maritime security.

The Center for Public Integrity of Mozambique and the Norwegian Chr. The Michelsen Institute estimated that the case burdened Mozambique with a debt of 11 billion dollars, the equivalent of the country's entire Gross Domestic Product in 2016.

Mozambican lawyer Adkin said in a note to the court that Mozambique was no longer pursuing its macroeconomic case against Privinvest due to concerns about Privinvest's ability to pay if found liable.

But Privinvest's lawyer, Duncan Matthews, told the court that Mozambique abandoned its claim for economic losses because it was "unexpected" and would have led to a "deeply embarrassing" cross-examination of the republic's witnesses.

Thursday's events come four days after Credit Suisse's new owner, UBS, settled its dispute with the southeast African republic.

However, a trial of Mozambique's remaining claims against Privinvest and Credit Suisse's dispute with the shipbuilder is due to go ahead later this month.

Mozambique claimed that it was the victim of a conspiracy and that Privinvest paid bribes to corrupt officials and Credit Suisse bankers, exposing the nation to potential liability of at least 2 billion dollars.

Safa and Privinvest - which said it had fulfilled its contractual obligations and that any payments made were investments, consultancy payments, legitimate remuneration or contributions to political campaigns - denied any wrongdoing. (Reuters)