Uruguay sells itself to investors as the Switzerland of Latin America. Many business people hail it as a beacon of sound government in a region beset by corruption and turmoil.
Indian mining tycoon Pramod Agarwal describes that reputation as “eyewash”. His decade-long attempt to develop a world-class iron ore mine in the South American beef-exporting nation collapsed in 2016 amid acrimony and he lost his entire investment of $365mn. A Paris appeal court is due to rule in October on whether a tribunal should hear his $3.5bn compensation claim.
“We would like Uruguay to realise that they have expropriated the asset,” Agarwal told the Financial Times over breakfast in a Mayfair club. “What they did was wrong . . . it’s against all international law.”