BOT Trung Luong-My Thuan JSC has proposed the prime minister and the Ministry of Transport replace Yen Khanh Trade Production and Service Company, a developer of the Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway project, with Deo Ca Group to ensure that the project can be completed in December 2020.

The construction site of a section of the Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway project in Tien Giang Province

According to BOT Trung Luong-My Thuan JSC, the biggest obstacle for the project is the lack of capital.

On June 15 last year, BOT Trung Luong-My Thuan JSC signed a credit agreement with four banks, including Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, Vietnam Prosperity Commercial Bank and Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, to borrow VND6.85 trillion (US$295.2 million) for the project.

Under the syndicated loan agreement, banks set out 20 conditions for the project investors. Of which, 14 conditions have been satisfied by the investor consortium, while the remaining six conditions are within the jurisdiction of the prime minister and the Ministry of Transport.

Especially, the four banks required the replacement of Yen Khanh Trade Production and Service Company.

At present, loans for the project have yet to be disbursed as the four banks had demanded an annual interest rate of 10.8% for loans for the project, well above the 7.82% rate approved for the project on June 15, 2017.

In addition, the plan to collect toll fees on HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway to support the Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway project cannot be executed due to the Law on Public Asset Use and Management valid from January 1 last year. Accordingly, the collector of toll fees for HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway must be chosen in line with the Bidding Law.

As for the progress of the Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway project, works have started on 19 out of 21 construction packages. The two remaining packages have yet to be commenced due to the incomplete site clearance.

The long-delayed Trung Luong-My Thuan project expressway project was resumed in February 2015 and was expected for completion in 2018. However, obstacles to the project execution have not been removed, so the deadline for the project completion was rescheduled to December 2020.

SGT