Glencore Is Said to Take Congo Rift With Gertler to London Court – by Thomas Wilson (Bloomberg News – May 2, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Plc’s clash with former partner Dan Gertler over unpaid royalties at a key Congolese copper mine deepened as the legal battle spread to a London court.

The Swiss miner was on Tuesday granted a temporary injunction against the Israeli billionaire after petitioning the London court to rule against a Congolese judge’s decision last week to freeze assets at its Kamoto Copper project, people familiar with the matter said.

Gertler is claiming $2.28 billion in damages and unpaid royalties, which Glencore stopped paying after he was sanctioned by the U.S. in December.

The dispute with Gertler is the latest problem the world’s biggest commodity trader is facing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it’s the top producer of copper and cobalt.

Glencore is challenging the government over a new mining code which raises taxes and royalties, while state-owned miner Gecamines last month accused the Swiss company of “draining” Kamoto of profit and asked a Congolese judge to dissolve the joint venture.

For the rest of this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-02/glencore-is-said-to-take-congo-rift-with-gertler-to-london-court