No more cash for ailing mega-projects: Deputy PM

The State will not pump more money into 12 loss-making mega-projects under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh said at a recent meeting with high-ranking officials in Hanoi.
No more cash for ailing mega-projects: Deputy PM ảnh 1The Dung Quat Bio-ethanol Plant in the central province of Quang Ngai, one of the 12 loss-making projects. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) -
The Statewill not pump more money into 12 loss-making mega-projects under the managementof the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Deputy Prime MinisterTruong Hoa Binh said at a recent meeting with high-ranking officials in Hanoi. 

Binh said the top priority was toprevent further loss to the State's budget and projects that were no longerfinancially sustainable may be forced to file for bankruptcy or be dissolved.

At the meeting, he orderedproject managers and governmental agencies to report on progress of resolvingcontract conflicts in regards to three Vinachem projects, a process whichhas been dragging on for years. 

The Committee for Managementof State Capital at Enterprises was charged to categorise the projects intothree groups: projects on a path of recovery; projects under restructuringand financially unsustainable projects. The committee was told to hand in a reportto Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on measures that must be taken to supportthe projects' recovery.  

Seven of the 12 projects aredealing with legal battles over contracts. As attempts to settle disputes havefailed, some cases now must go before international courts.

Recovering State capitalremains a challenging task as investors from the private sector have eithershown little interest in loss-incurring projects or were unable to buy indue to ongoing legal disputes.

After years of struggling, few ofthe MoIT's 12 failing mega-projects, which have cost the State's budget morethan a billion dollars, are profitable. 

The 12 projects are Dinh VuPolyester Fibre Plant, Phuong Nam Pulp Factory, Thai Nguyen Iron and SteelJoint Stock Corporation, Dung Quat Bio-ethanol Plant, Ninh Binh FertiliserPlant, Ha Bac Fertiliser Plant, DAP 1 Lao Cai Fertiliser Plant,DAP Fertiliser 2 Hai Phong, Ethanol Binh Phuoc, Ethanol Phu Tho, Dung QuatShipyard and the joint venture between Quy Sa and Lao Cai Steel./.
VNA

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