North-South high-speed railway investors can get 0% interest loans

The Ministry of Construction has completed the Draft Resolution on a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the North-South high-speed railway project and sent it to the Ministry of Justice for appraisal.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Construction proposed that the State lend investors up to 80% of the total investment, with a minimum interest rate of 0% and a term of 30 years.

According to the Draft Resolution of the Ministry of Construction, in the case of investing in the North-South high-speed railway project in the form of business investment, the State will lend a maximum of no more than 80% of the total approved investment (excluding reserves), with a minimum interest rate of 0%, and a maximum loan term of 30 years from the first disbursement date; the investor must repay the entire loan within 30 years from this milestone.

With the investment method under the public-private partnership (PPP) method, the State capital participation rate does not exceed 80% of the total investment. Domestic commercial banks are exempted from the regulations on total outstanding credit balance for this loan; at the same time, the loan is not included in the total outstanding credit balance of the bank to the investor.

The Ministry of Construction proposed that if the North-South high-speed railway project is invested in as a business investment, the State will provide loans with a minimum interest rate of 0%. (Illustration photo: Yicai Global).

Investors are exempted from import tax on machinery, equipment, railway vehicles to create fixed assets and goods, components, supplies, spare parts, etc. serving the project if they cannot be produced domestically or do not meet technical requirements.

During the first 3 years after the date of operation, it is allowed to apply a 100% sharing of the difference in revenue reduction between actual and financial plan when actual revenue is lower.

The Government shall prioritize allocation from annual revenue increases, remaining expenditure estimates of the Central budget or annual investment plan capital to cover the reduction in revenue; after 3 years, the sharing shall be implemented according to the PPP law. The project's payback period shall not exceed 70 years.

Immediately after being granted the Investment Registration Certificate, the investor must establish an implementation schedule, capital mobilization and disbursement plan; and submit it to the licensing authority for review and approval before starting construction.

Investors are responsible for disbursing capital in proportion to the mobilized capital according to the investment registration certificate, ensuring that the disbursement periods are not lower than 20% of the disbursement period until the capital contribution is exhausted.

If the committed capital mobilization schedule is not met, the State loan is used for the wrong purpose and the investor is not promptly remedied, the competent authority may unilaterally recover the loan; the investor must compensate for all damages, losses and expenses.

If the investor fails to meet the committed capital mobilization schedule for the high-speed railway project, it must compensate for all damages, losses, and expenses. (Illustration photo: AI).

In particular, investors will have their operations suspended or terminated and will not be compensated if they cause harm or risk harming national defense and security, exploit without ensuring quality leading to serious incidents, or fail to carry out guarantees as prescribed.

Investors participating in the North-South high-speed railway project must have a project implementation guarantee for the budget loan; after the completion of construction, the assets formed from the project are the secured assets. Investors are not allowed to pledge or mortgage project assets to raise capital for other projects.

During the implementation process, the investment target and scale must not be adjusted, mainly in terms of track gauge, design speed, and load capacity. In case of business investment or PPP, investors must prioritize the use of domestic products, goods, and services; require foreign partners to transfer technology and train human resources to master management - operation - exploitation - maintenance.

Concluding the session to review the draft Resolution, Deputy Minister of Justice Phan Chi Hieu and members of the Council agreed on the necessity of issuing the Resolution; the draft is consistent with guidelines, policies, laws, ensuring national security and defense and is not contrary to relevant international treaties. Other delegates suggested reviewing the wording, clearly explaining the exemption of import tax, coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assess the compatibility with international treaties of which Vietnam is a member, as well as studying the permission/non-permission of project transfer.

(Source: Tien Phong)

Link: https://tienphong.vn/nha-dau-tu-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-co-the-duoc-vay-von-lai-suat-0-post1792902.tpo?fbclid=IwY2xjawN1L-5leH RuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFiOVVyWTFhblU2TVYyNlE4AR6WaKKOvIt153I1_MaUiy_jZWaS8Cayp0Av35zQkpAS5mr6XNVqEWRf9WWViw_aem_mKc3PD7amjg_pP-WXBMT2A

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/nha-dau-tu-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-co-the-duoc-vay-von-lai-suat-0-ar984834.html