Can Tho stops building 1,700 billion VND hospital

Because the loan agreement expired but Hungary did not extend it, the Can Tho Oncology Hospital project, which has only reached 21%, had to be temporarily suspended, waiting to find other sources of capital.

On November 5, the Can Tho City Department of Health announced that the contract to build a 500-bed Oncology Hospital between the unit and the consortium of contractors had expired on July 10, 2022. The project's loan agreement signed for the second time between the Ministry of Finance and Eximbank Hungary also expired on July 11, 2022. The project is only 21% complete and has had to temporarily suspend construction for more than a year.

"Recently, Hungary has decided not to extend the loan agreement. Therefore, the project must be temporarily suspended, waiting for another solution," said Mr. Cao Hoang Anh, Deputy Director of Can Tho Department of Health , adding that the place has hired an independent auditing company to calculate the items that have been implemented, from which to settle the accounts with related units.

In addition, according to Mr. Hoang Anh, when the auditing company finishes calculating, it will refund the advance capital of about 10 million Euros to the Hungarian Government. That refund can come from the central or local budget.

"To complete this project, other sources of capital will be used, possibly from sponsorship or the state budget," said Mr. Hoang Anh.

Current status of Can Tho Oncology Hospital after 6 years of construction. Photo: An Binh — Current status of Can Tho Oncology Hospital after 6 years of construction. Photo: *An Binh*

Can Tho City Oncology Hospital was built on Nguyen Van Cu Street, Ninh Kieu District, started in October 2017, with an investment capital of 1,727 billion VND. Of which, 1,395 billion VND is from the Hungarian Government's ODA capital, the rest is local counterpart capital. The project has a scale of 500 beds, built on an area of nearly 15,500 m2, including 4 main buildings, with a total usable area of nearly 48,000 m2. This is the most modern oncology hospital in the West, expected to be put into operation in 2020.

To date, the project has only completed more than 21% of the EPC contract value (design, equipment supply, technology and construction). Of which, the construction category has reached 82%, the construction equipment supply and installation category has reached more than 16%. Due to problems with adjusting medical equipment, the supply and installation category has not been implemented. The project has been suspended for more than a year.

According to the Can Tho Department of Health, during the project implementation, the leading member of the consortium of contractors, VMD Kórházi Technológiai Zrt (Hungary), continuously proposed adjustments to specialized medical equipment, construction materials and equipment. This led to failure to ensure the 50% rate of goods originating from Hungary as stipulated in the Framework Agreement signed between the two governments, greatly affecting the progress of the project implementation.

The People's Committee of Can Tho City once proposed to the government to stop using ODA capital from Hungary, pay the borrowed portion, determine the volume of work done, and finalize the payment to contractors. After that, the locality requested central capital and local counterpart capital of about 300 billion VND to continue carrying out the remaining work.

An Binh

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