It is difficult to have a happy ending for the BOT Project to invest in the expansion of National Highway 51, the section from Km0+900 to Km 73+600 because there are many major differences in viewpoints between competent state agencies and project enterprise.
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| The National Highway 51 BOT project has a more complicated history than BOT projects implemented in the period from 2012 to present. |
Waiting for directions
Journey to handle problems at the Investment and Construction Project to expand National Highway 51 section from Km0+900 to Km 73+600 passing through Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces in the form of a BOT contract (Project National Highway 51 BOT project) is unlikely to end in the near future based on the latest developments related to this project with a special fate.
Right before the Lunar New Year holiday of Giap Thin 2024, the Government Office issued Official Dispatch No. 906/VPCP-CN conveying the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on handling the problems of the National Highway 51 BOT Project. sent to the Ministry of Transport (MOT – competent state agency) and Bien Hoa – Vung Tau Expressway Development Joint Stock Company (BVEC – project enterprise).
Accordingly, considering the report of the Ministry of Transport (Document No. 15229/BGTVT-CĐCTVN dated December 29, 12) on handling proposals from investors of the National Highway 2023 BOT Project, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry Transport continues to handle investor proposals according to functions, tasks and signed contracts. The Ministry of Transport reports the results of handling according to its authority.
This is the second time in less than 2 months that Government leaders have had to give guidance on the shortcomings and problems at the National Highway 51 BOT Project. Previously, in Official Dispatch No. 8793/VPCP-CN On November 9, 11, the Government Office said that implementing the Prime Minister's direction and recommendations of investors of the National Highway 2023 BOT Project, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Transport to preside (with status as a competent state agency and BOT contract signing agency), coordinates with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Justice to work with the investor of the National Highway 51 BOT Project to Consider and resolve within your authority legitimate recommendations of investors in accordance with the provisions of law on PPP on the principle of shared risks and harmonious benefits.
"In case of necessity, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha will chair the meeting to consider and resolve investors' proposals on contents under the Prime Minister's authority based on the report of the Ministry of Transport." , Official Dispatch No. 8793/VPCP-CN clearly stated.
About 1,5 months after the above direction, the Ministry of Transport issued Official Dispatch No. 15229/BGTVT-CĐCTVN to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha to report on the handling of investors' petitions for the National Highway 51 BOT Project. Article Worth mentioning, in this official dispatch, the Ministry of Transport has not provided any specific solutions to handle differences in viewpoints between competent state agencies and project enterprises.
According to the Ministry of Transport, of the 64 BOT projects managed by this ministry by the end of 2024, all have basically completed construction and are in operation, some projects have temporarily stopped collecting fees due to the end of the completion time. capital. There are problems in settlement work mainly in projects signed contracts in the period from 1997-2023.
During this period, BOT project contracts (including the National Highway 51 BOT Project contract) include equity preservation fees and profit-making fee collection periods in the financial plan. From 2009 to present, BOT projects do not include equity preservation fees in the financial plan, only calculating equity profits during the exploitation business phase, so there are no problems when settlement.
Regarding equity preservation fees, the Ministry of Transport said that in Notice No. 336/TB-KTNN dated August 11, 8 and Notice No. 2017/TB-KTNN dated August 337, 11, the State Audit has Request the Ministry of Transport to reduce capital preservation costs for 8 BOT contracts for the exploitation phase in the financial plan (including the National Highway 2017 BOT Project).
Implementing the opinions of the State Audit, the competent agency assigned by the Ministry of Transport to carry out project settlement is the Vietnam Roads Department, which has negotiated with investors to settle contracts. “However, the settlement process is difficult and problematic because some investors have not agreed with the State Audit's deduction for this equity preservation fee. To date, the Vietnam Road Administration reported that capital preservation fees have not been included in the financial plan for 5/9 contracts", Official Dispatch No. 15229/BGTVT-CĐCTVN clearly stated.
Regarding toll collection time to generate profit, the Ministry of Transport said that 13/64 BOT contracts have provisions for calculating toll collection time to generate profit in the financial plan. During project implementation, some conditions of the contract changed, leading to the parties having to negotiate calculations and adjustments to redefine the payback period, as well as the time to collect fees to create profits for investors.
To date, the Vietnam Road Administration has negotiated and agreed with investors on a plan to re-adjust the toll collection time to generate profit for 7/13 BOT contracts (basic rate of return on equity). conversion is similar to the rate of return on equity of BOT projects from 2012 to present), the remaining 6/13 BOT contracts are continuing to be negotiated.
The Ministry of Transport admitted that the above problems are all difficult problems, the legal regulations are not complete and clear, so there are still problems between the parties in the settlement process of some contracts.
For the National Highway 51 BOT Project, implementing the Prime Minister's direction, on November 15, 11, the Ministry of Transport chaired a meeting and coordinated with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Justice to work with investors and banks lending capital.
“The Ministry of Transport has established an independent review team to review and resolve investors' recommendations to handle the shortcomings and problems of the above projects (including the National Highway 51 BOT Project) according to the Government's direction and the State Audit's concluding opinions for each project," informed the leader of the Ministry of Transport.
Investors want to continue to collect fees
The National Highway 51 BOT project has a more complicated history than BOT projects implemented in the period from 2012 to present. Specifically, before the project was implemented, the Ministry of Transport implemented a project to expand National Highway 51 with loans from the Vietnam Development Bank (VDB), repaying capital with toll revenue at station T1, National Highway 51. Highway XNUMX.
However, due to lack of investment efficiency, the Ministry of Transport proposed that BVEC receive the right to collect tolls at the T1 toll station with a right purchase contract value of 400 billion VND, the capital mobilization interest rate is a fixed interest rate (7,75 .51%/year), excluding profits for investors. Next, in the process of formulating the policy of the National Highway 1 Expansion Investment Project, the value of the transfer of toll collection rights at TXNUMX station is incorporated into the total investment of the Project.
According to the contract between Vietnam Road Administration and BVEC signed in 2009, the payback period of the Principle Contract for transfer of toll collection rights at T1 station is July 10, 7; The total contract toll collection time for the National Highway 2013 expansion investment project is about 51 years, of which the toll payback period is about 20,66 years (from August 16,66, 3 to March 8, 2012). ); Fee collection period to generate profit is 27 years (from March 3, 2029 to March 4, 28).
By the end of February 2, the project's payback fee collection period was adjusted to 2017 years, 20 months and 6 days, i.e. from July 11, 1 to January 7, 2009, including 12 years and 1 days of collection. According to the contract to sell toll collection rights at station T2030 (from July 4, 24 to July 1, 1) and 7 years of toll collection to generate profit.
By the end of 2018, due to some changes related to input factors and recommendations from the State Audit, the Vietnam Road Administration recalculated the toll collection time to generate profit. The method chosen by the representative of the competent state agency to recalculate the time to collect fees to create profit is the expected profit method (the profit earned by the investor in 4 years of revenue generation according to the financial plan). The government has eliminated interest to preserve capital for both the construction and exploitation phases. After recalculation, the Vietnam Road Administration reduced the time to generate profit from 4 years to 9 months.
To avoid BVEC collecting tolls beyond the time limit, on January 9, 1, the Vietnam Road Department issued Document No. 2023/CDBVN temporarily suspending toll collection at toll stations under the National Highway 137 BOT Project from 51:7 a.m. January 00, 13.
It should be added that the toll collection time to generate profit is among the 5 groups of issues where there is a huge discrepancy between BVEC and the Vietnam Road Administration during the process of finalizing and determining the time to stop toll collection of the contract. BOT contract of the Project. The remaining four groups of issues include: equity preservation fees; Interest on loans to pay bank interest and use revenue sources to pay contractors; toll revenue in the period 2009 - 2015; Loan interest calculation plan for deductions during the exploitation phase.
In Document No. 109/CT-TCKT dated October 2, 10 sent to the Prime Minister to propose removing obstacles and administrative measures that cause damage to investors of the National Highway 2023 BOT Project, BVEC representative affirmed. According to the decision, the unilateral imposition of the Vietnam Road Administration to reduce the profit-making time and force the temporary suspension of toll collection has caused the project enterprise to be unable to pay the remaining construction investment loans worth VND 51 billion for 470 banks sponsor capital; Unable to return capital of VND 3 billion to shareholders contributing capital...
“The unilateral suspension of toll collection by the Vietnam Road Administration and termination of the contract ahead of schedule will lead to legal disputes between the parties. Due to the expected long wait for the final judgment, it will continue to incur large costs that will ultimately be borne by VEC," Mr. Dinh Hong Ha, General Director of BVEC, worried.
It is known that in Document No. 109/CT-TCKT, BVEC proposed to keep the capital preservation fee unchanged during the investment and exploitation phase; Maintain the 4-year profit-making time according to contract regulations and signed contract appendices. The project enterprise also proposed that the Prime Minister direct the Ministry of Transport and the Vietnam Roads Department to consider and agree with investors on the costs (mainly loan interest) that have been cut by the Vietnam Roads Department.
"If the above proposal is approved, assuming BVEC is allowed to collect fees again on January 1, 1, the project enterprise will continue to collect fees to make a profit until August 2024, 27", VEC leader calculate.
Recently, the Vietnam Road Administration has negotiated with the investor of the National Highway 51 BOT Project and related agencies 19 times to resolve some outstanding issues of the project such as toll collection time. profit generation, equity preservation fees during the construction and exploitation phase, fee revenue for the period 2009 - 2015, loan interest for amounts deducted according to recommendations of inspection agencies, audit... However, the parties did not reach consensus on these contents.
