UK food retailer Big Food Group, owner of the UK frozen food retail chain Iceland, has halted its attempts to claim more than £12m (US$19m) in compensation from the impoverished South American country of Guyana.
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The announcement came after third world debt campaigners threatened to hold a series of protests outside the company’s stores, reported the Guardian.
Big Food Group was trying to recover a 27-year-old debt arising from the nationalisation in 1976 of Guyana’s sugar industry, which was at that time owned by Booker. Big Food Group, which acquired Booker three years ago, was hoping the case would be settled at an arbitration hearing by the international court for the settlement of investment disputes later this month. The government of Guyana had paid back around half the £13m it owed to Booker before defaulting on payments in 1989. Including interest, the amount owed rose to £12.1m.
“We have reviewed this matter carefully and believe the interests of both our company and those of the people of Guyana are best served by not proceeding,” Big Food Group was quoted by the Guardian as saying.
A spokesman for the company denied the decision had been influenced by the negative publicity it has received in the last few days. “We would not make this kind of decision in a day. I can assure you it has taken some months,” he said.
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By GlobalDataThe spokesman also said that writing off the debt would not affect Big Food Group’s results as provisions had been made some time ago.
