VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnam Multimedia Corporation (VTC) has unwillingly got involved in a trouble when SaigonTel, a telco, has denounced VTC of appropriating its US$3.9 million, which is the capital contribution to a joint venture between the two parties.

SaigonTel has sent a petition to the competent agencies, asking for the intervention to help settle the dispute between the telco and VTC.

According to SaigonTel, the company and VTC are the two partners of the cooperation agreement signed on February 12, 2008, and the agreement on the establishment of VTC-Saigontel (VSM) joint stock company signed on November 11, 2010, which later changed name into SGC.

Under the agreement, VTC would make capital contribution with the right to exploit VTC6 TV channel, business advantage and experience, while SaigonTel would contribute capital in cash.

In implementing the agreement, SaigonTel and its legal partner – the Kinh Bac Urban Development Company (KBC) have transferred $3.9 million in total to VTC’s account.

However, since 2008, VTC still has not fulfilled its duty – providing enough technical equipment to ensure the analog broadcasting as it committed. Meanwhile, there has been no personnel support and business management support from VTC so far.

As a result, SGC has to handle all the arisen problems relating to its business and the VTC6 channel since the very beginning.

According to SaigonTel, VTC6 has been put into operation, but it has not got the license for broadcasting, which should be blamed on the irresponsibility of VTC, and as a behavior of violating the contract.

Especially, VTC has cut a part of VTC6 channel, while having threatened to cut the wave totally by January 20, 2013.

SaigonTel has affirmed that VTC, though having received the $3.9 million, has not done anything to fulfill its commitments. If counting on the bank loan interests, SaigonTel not only has lost $3.9 million, but an additional sum of $2.4 million, if noting that the money was transferred in February 2008.

As such, the total loss SaigonTel has to bear has reached VND220 billion.

VTC, when talking with local press, affirmed that the problem should be blamed on SaigonTel which cannot satisfy the requirements set up in the cooperation agreement.

Regarding the production of the content for VTC6, a senior executive of VTC said that the VTC Digital Television, a subsidiary of VTC, the partner in the cooperation agreement, signed a contract with SGC on cooperating to make content programs and develop media services for VTC 6 channel.

However, since SGC has not fulfilled its commitments written down in the contract, VTC has to come to a decision to halt the broadcasting of the content programs. Meanwhile, VTC, as a holding company, does not intervene in SGC’s business as requested by SaigonTel.

VTC has denied the accusation that VTC appropriates SaigonTel’s capital, affirming that since the day the cooperation agreement with SaigonTel was inked, VTC and VTC Digital Television have not got any benefits from the agreement.

VTC is now negotiating with SaigonTel, hoping that the negotiations would settle the disagreements and existing problems. In case the two sides cannot reach any agreement, the two sides would report the case to competent agencies.

VTC is a state owned enterprise, put under the management of the Ministry of Information and Communication. SaigonTel is a private company, a subsidiary of the Saigon Investment Group, a big multi-field business group.

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