VietNamNet Bridge – It’s really difficult to demand payment of debts now, when debtors cannot sell products for money and the overly high bank loan interest rates prompt them to try to appropriate capital of others. In this case, there are two options, either to sue the debtors, or hiring bullyboys to “hunt” for debtors.

Of course, bringing the cases to the court is the only right way creditors have to do to ask for debt payment. However, this is the solution which most of the creditors would refuse. They would think of collecting debts through unofficial way.

Businesses told to go straight way

Pham Thi Thanh Hang, Director of the Center for Small and Medium Enterprises’ Cooperation and Development, advised businesses to take legal proceedings in case they fail to negotiate with the debtors.

However, Hang has warned that this should be the last solution creditors consider, because no one would get benefits if the case is brought to the court. The creditors, or the plaintiff, would have to pay legal costs, while they cannot surely collect all the debts. Meanwhile, the debtors would suffer more seriously, especially, they would lose their prestige.

Fritta Vietnam once sued Anh Em DIC because the latter did not pay the debt worth 3.4 billion dong for the tile products it bought. Anh Em DIC was the loser, but it still deliberately refused to pay debts as decided by the court. Therefore, coercive measures were taken to force Anh Em DIC to fulfill its obligation, and Fritta Vietnam could get back a part of the debts.

A lot of businesses successfully collected debts after asking for the intervention of the court. However, the majority of Vietnamese businessmen never think of following that way to recover debts.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Manager of Com 123, a well-known catering service provider, said that he has been chasing for the debtors, who refuse to pay for the meals, for several months. However, Hung does not intend to bring the case to the court to recover the 100 million dong worth of debt.

Hang, though advising businesses to take legal proceedings to ask for debt payments, admitted that it would be a thorny path creditors have to follow. If the disputes relate to civil contracts with low values, it is highly possible that the economics police would not take the cases.

Hang went on to say that suing is not the choice of many creditors, because many of Vietnamese businesses are just pretty traders, who do not want to spend time and money on legal procedures. In many cases, the creditors and partners only make oral agreements. Therefore, creditors would have no proof to show to the court, if they want to sue the debtors.

Even if creditors win the lawsuits, they may not take back the money, simply because the debtors have no assets left, except the debts.

Though Phu An Sinh Company’s Director Pham Van Minh has been prosecuted and arrested, the Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincial authorities still would not be able to take the debt of 40 billion dong back, because all the assets of Phu An Sinh have been mortgaged for loans at banks.

Press gang would help chase debtors

Hiring bullyboys to ask borrowers to pay debts is the way many businesses use, though this is really a very dangerous one.

Nguyen Van Tinh, Director of a home appliance company, said in the past, he once hired some bullyboys to get the debt of 7 million dong back. However, he had to pay 50 percent, or 3.5 million dong to the bullyboys.

Tinh swears he would never ask for the services of the bullyboys anymore, because “any relations to the gangland would do you harm.”

He said that in some cases, the wretched creditors may turn in the crimes, if they are discovered as following the illegal way to ask for debt payment.

Compiled by Kim Chi