Ricons records Coteccons owes more than 300 billion VND

At the end of June, Ricons recorded Coteccons' short-term debt of over 322 billion VND, before filing a petition with the court to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the company.

According to the self-prepared Q2 financial report of Ricons Construction Investment Joint Stock Company, the company currently has over VND 322.5 billion in short-term receivables from Coteccons Construction Joint Stock Company (CTD), an increase of approximately VND 28 million compared to the end of last year. This figure accounts for about 9% of the total short-term receivables from customers and is the second largest short-term receivable, after VND 647.5 billion from Gamuda Land.

Meanwhile, CTD's self-prepared Q2 financial report does not clearly explain the payable amount to Ricons.

Accounts receivable are amounts owed by customers to a company for goods or services that have been delivered or used but not yet paid for. Short-term accounts receivable typically have a remaining repayment period of no more than 12 months. Accounts receivable are considered assets on the balance sheet and are seen as current assets of a business. Managing accounts receivable is crucial because it provides additional capital to reduce debt and support business operations.

With Coteccons failing to pay its debts, Ricons announced at the end of July that it had filed a petition with the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Coteccons. The court accepted the petition on July 4th.

Ricons stated that this was the result of overdue debts acknowledged by Coteccons, but which had gone unpaid for many years. "We have considered the best option to recover the debt and have proactively sent numerous letters to Coteccons proposing solutions," the company stated in a letter to its shareholders.

During this process, Ricons stated that it had informed and updated Coteccons about the company's filing for bankruptcy proceedings, hoping to resolve the matter before the court accepted the application, in order to avoid potential adverse consequences. The company stated that it "did not receive a positive response from Coteccons."

On Coteccons' side , the company affirms that transactions involving accounts receivable and accounts payable (debt) did occur between the two businesses. The reason stems from the period before 2019, when both Coteccons and Ricons belonged to an ecosystem of seven interconnected member companies: Coteccons, Unicons, Ricons, Newtecons, BM Windows, Sol E&C, and Boho. At that time, Mr. Nguyen Ba Duong was in charge of the overall management.

During their operation within the same ecosystem, some projects where Coteccons acts as the main contractor will have Ricons subcontracted to them. This has resulted in outstanding debts between the two parties related to the Newtaco project, Regina phases 4-5-6, the Vinfast factory, and Simco.

A representative from Coteccons told VnExpress that the reason the company hasn't paid its outstanding debt to Ricons is because it hasn't received payment from the project's investor. The representative declined to name the investor responsible for the delayed payment, only stating that the contract between the two parties clearly stipulates that Coteccons can only pay its subcontractors after receiving payment from the investor.

"When the parties involved have conducted transactions that result in debt, payment must be made, but in accordance with the provisions of the signed contracts and the law," Coteccons stated in a letter to its shareholders.

Furthermore, Coteccons stated that the outstanding debts are still hampered by issues of valuation and the availability of legally valid documentation. The company requested Ricons' "cooperation" in resolving these two issues.

Conversely, CTD stated that Ricons has not yet settled outstanding debts at the Regina Hung Yen and Dong A projects, where Ricons is the main contractor and Coteccons is the subcontractor. The two sides also have some transactions involving equipment leasing and the use of each other's facilities.

Coteccons and Ricons are two companies participating in two different consortiums to jointly bid on the construction and equipment installation package for the passenger terminal (package 5.10) at Long Thanh Airport ( Dong Nai ).

According to stakeholders, the Long Thanh airport terminal project is currently a major competition between the Hoa Lu Consortium and the Vietur Consortium. The Hoa Lu Consortium, led by Coteccons, comprises eight contractors: Hoa Binh, Central, An Phong, Delta, Unicons, Thanh An, and Power Line Engineering (PLE - Thailand). Meanwhile, the Vietur Consortium, led by the Turkish Construction Industry and Trade Group (Ic Istas), includes contractors within the ecosystem founded by Mr. Nguyen Ba Duong, such as Ricons, Newtecons, and Sol E&C.

Previously, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) stated that the contractor selection process would be completed in July. Following that, the Long Thanh airport terminal project was scheduled to commence in August.

Tat Dat

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