Ministry of Construction proposes to add regulations to support loss-making BOT projects

Thai Nguyen-Cho Moi Expressway BOT Project

The Ministry of Construction has just reported to the Prime Minister on mechanisms and policies to remove obstacles in BOT traffic projects.

Complete the Project to remove obstacles in BOT traffic projects

Accordingly, implementing the Government's conclusion, the Ministry of Construction has coordinated with the State Bank of Vietnam and localities to comprehensively review the difficulties of BOT transport projects nationwide, build a list of 11 projects with quantified difficulties (8 projects of the Ministry of Construction and 3 local projects); at the same time, organize negotiations with investors and credit banks to agree on solutions (expected to arrange State capital to pay to terminate contracts of 6 projects, supplement State capital to support to continue implementing contracts of 5 projects), determine the shared responsibilities of the parties and complete the Project to remove difficulties of BOT transport projects.

On the other hand, in 2024, when drafting the revised PPP Law, the Ministry of Construction proposed to add 2 policies (arranging State capital to pay for early termination of contracts and arranging State capital to support during the exploitation phase to continue implementing the contract), but the revised PPP Law (Law No. 57/2024/QH15) only added the policy of arranging State capital to pay for contract termination, while the policy of State capital participating in support during the exploitation phase to continue implementing the contract has not been added in the revised PPP Law.

Therefore, the Ministry of Construction stated that for the group of projects that have terminated contracts and have sufficient legal basis for implementation, the competent authority shall preside over determining the value of State capital and report to the competent authority to arrange capital for payment.

As for the group of projects supplementing State capital to support the exploitation phase to continue implementing the contract, because the revised PPP Law does not have this policy, it must be submitted to the National Assembly for promulgation of a Resolution or supplemented to the PPP Law to have a legal basis for implementation.

On April 9, 2025, the Ministry of Construction continued to preside over and coordinate with the State Bank of Vietnam to organize a negotiation meeting with relevant parties. The negotiation results so far show that for the group of 5/11 projects with State capital to participate in supporting to continue implementing the contract, investors and credit institutions basically agreed on the risk sharing mechanism.

For group 6/11 projects with State capital payment to terminate contracts, some investors proposed to reduce only a part of profits; all credit institutions proposed not to retroactively pay the interest that investors have paid to the bank, and to reduce a part of the interest, which is not in accordance with Notice No. 270/TB-VPCP.

Proposal for State capital to support BOT projects in the exploitation phase

The Government has submitted Document No. 169/TTr-CP dated April 5, 2025 to the National Assembly Standing Committee to adjust the 2025 legislative program, including the plan to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and approval of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Bidding and the Law on PPP.

If the provisions on State capital participation and support for the exploitation phase are added to the revised PPP Law, the leaders of the Ministry of Construction believe that it will be sufficient to remove obstacles for all 11 BOT projects and potential projects.

Pursuant to the direction of the Government Standing Committee in Notice No. 270/TB-VPCP on studying and supplementing the amendment of the PPP Law to remove obstacles for BOT transport projects, based on the opinions of a number of National Assembly Deputies, the Ministry of Construction proposed that the Prime Minister allow the addition of the provision "State capital participating in and supporting BOT projects in the exploitation phase" in the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Bidding and the Law on PPP to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the 9th Session.

Expressing its commitment to closely coordinate with the Government Office, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Justice to promptly advise the Government to complete the draft Law, and at the same time to unify the responsibility for sharing, ensuring that no precedent is created, no exploitation or profiteering of policies under the direction of the Government Standing Committee, the Ministry of Construction continues to update and complete the Project to remove obstacles in a number of BOT traffic projects, and submit it to the Government for consideration and approval.

Phan Trang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/bo-xay-dung-de-xuat-bo-sung-quy-dinh-ho-tro-cac-du-an-bot-thua-lo-102250421162321367.htm