On the afternoon of May 25, continuing the 7th Session, the National Assembly discussed in groups the investment policy for the North-South Expressway construction project in the West, Gia Nghia (Dak Nong) - Chon Thanh (Binh Phuoc) section.
Be transparent from the start
Accordingly, the National Assembly Delegate of Bac Giang province requested the Government to assess the financial impact of the North-South Expressway project in the West, Gia Nghia (Dak Nong) - Chon Thanh (Binh Phuoc) section with the parallel project, specifically the National Highway 14 project.
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| The Bac Giang-Lang Son Expressway's current revenue only reaches about 30% of the financial plan (Illustration photo) |
According to delegates, this is to avoid the state budget spending to "compensate" for BOT projects, because after being put into operation, the revenue does not meet the approved financial plan, as happened with some previous BOT highway projects.
Delegate Pham Van Thinh - National Assembly Delegation of Bac Giang province said: Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh Expressway project will be parallel to National Highway 14, if completed, it will be a road connecting the Central Highlands with the Southeast region and access to seaports. This road is not only significant in terms of economy but also in terms of national defense and security.
' However, National Highway 14 currently has 2 BOT toll stations: Ham Rong Bridge BOT Station and Bridge 110 BOT Station. Both of these stations have different contract end times, one station ends in 2028, another station ends in 2030 .'- delegate Pham Van Thinh shared.
According to delegate Pham Van Thinh, the Government's report has not mentioned whether it has worked with the management unit of these two BOT stations? How can we assess the sharing of risk and responsibility?
In reality, some BOT routes have parallel routes that the state may not collect tolls for many reasons due to the origin of the route.
The delegate from Bac Giang gave an example: ' We have the Bac Giang - Lang Son expressway, currently cars can travel less than 50km on this route, investors collect a fee of about 180,000 VND. Very few cars travel on this route, while after the upgrade of National Highway 1, cars will be packed '.
Delegate Thinh commented on the sidelines of the meeting that a vital route connecting an important economic corridor, one of the largest road trade gateways between Vietnam and China, but since its operation, toll collection has only reached 30% of the financial plan. The investor has sent a document requesting the State to "compensate" because the revenue did not reach the financial plan.
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| Delegate Pham Van Thinh gives comments at the group on the afternoon of May 25 (Photo: Thu Huong) |
' It is known that the amount of budget that must be "compensated" for businesses is about 3,000 billion VND. From the above reality, I propose that in the investment decision for the North-South Expressway project in the West, the section through Gia Nghia (Dak Nong) - Chon Thanh (Binh Phuoc), the Government's report must mention the case of parallel routes, specifically here National Highway 14. ' - delegate Thinh suggested.
He also raised the possibility that if the government later renovates and upgrades National Highway 14 with annual maintenance funds, leading to a more open road, and people choose to travel on National Highway 14, then it is very possible that the investor of the Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh expressway section will ask the government to take responsibility. Therefore, delegate Thinh suggested that the Government needs to have a clear viewpoint and discuss with the investor before inviting PPP.
Need to consider revenue sharing of parallel BOT projects on the route
Sharing the same opinion with delegate Pham Van Thinh, delegate Tran Van Lam - National Assembly Delegation of Bac Giang province said that when the project is affected by a number of parallel BOT projects, it will affect the financial plan of the project - this is an issue that needs to be clarified and needs to have a solution right from the beginning of the project construction and implementation process. To avoid conflicts when implementing again, the handling will be more complicated.
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| Delegate Tran Van Lam suggested that it is necessary to consider the issue of revenue sharing of parallel BOT projects on the route (Photo: Thu Huong) |
Delegate Tran Van Lam shared that after some BOT road projects were implemented, there were other public investment projects that shared the project's revenue. This caused losses to BOT investors and has not been thoroughly resolved to date.
He suggested calculating the effectiveness of the Gia Nghia-Chon Thanh project if it is affected by the National Highway 14 project. The issue of revenue sharing of parallel BOT road projects on the route must be considered.
The story of revenue sharing of the Gia Nghia – Chon Thanh BOT project may not need to be mentioned if the project uses other sources of capital.
According to delegate Pham Van Thinh, the Gia Nghia-Chon Thanh project calculates the payback period to be 18.7 years, and the investor will be responsible for collecting tolls for 21 years. Therefore, the financial “deficit” is very likely to happen.
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| Overview of the meeting at group 4 on the afternoon of May 25 (Photo: Thu Huong) |
' In case there are no investors participating in this project, we should boldly implement the first project by establishing a highway project associated with the land that will be exploited after the road is formed, organizing site clearance and public auction .' - delegate Pham Van Thinh proposed.
Delegate Pham Van Thinh said that only needing a land fund of about 4,000 hectares along the 85km long Binh Phuoc route - an area that is very attractive for attracting investment in both industry and urban areas combined with the aluminum bauxite area in Dak Lak, through land clearance and auction, can ensure enough capital for investment in the Gia Nghia - Chon Thanh project.
Source: https://congthuong.vn/lam-gi-de-ngan-sach-khong-phai-bu-cac-du-an-bot-cao-toc-322386.html
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