The Ministry of Planning and Investment has issued a document instructing localities to dissolve cooperatives that have stopped operating for many years, but so far due to many problems, the resolution has not achieved the expected results.
Marking time
In 2020, the whole province had 46 cooperatives that had stopped operating for many years without being dissolved; in 2021, this number was 57 and the latest statistics from the Department of Planning and Investment by mid-2023 were 113 cooperatives; only 2 cooperatives had stopped operating and been dissolved. It is worth mentioning that in 2021, the Ministry of Planning and Investment issued Official Dispatch 6563 on instructions for handling inactive cooperatives, having difficulties in dissolution, not registering and reorganizing operations according to the 2012 Law on Cooperatives.
Immediately after that, the Provincial People's Committee issued a document assigning the Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Finance, the Provincial Tax Department and the Provincial Cooperative Union to coordinate in handling the matter, but the dissolution of inactive cooperatives remained at a standstill. By 2022, the Provincial People's Committee continued to assign the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the State Bank of Vietnam, Phu Yen branch, the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities and the above-mentioned units to coordinate in thoroughly handling cooperatives that have ceased operations for a long time. Currently, there have been no positive results.
According to Mr. Dang Kim Ba, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment, although the province assigned specific tasks to each department and locality with instructions, in reality, the dissolution of these cooperatives encountered many difficulties. From January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, the whole province only had 2 cooperatives that had stopped operating and were completely dissolved. The number of new cooperatives that stopped operating continued to increase, while the dissolution of old cooperatives that stopped operating was very slow. The reason was that it was difficult to complete the dissolution procedures when there were no more documents, books, members; limited cooperative management skills, and cooperatives were established for the purpose of accessing preferential loans...
Mr. Le Thanh Lam, Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union, said: The difficulty lies in the cooperatives that still have debts, including tax debts and credit institutions. The solution so far has been to wait for the debt cancellation policy. This causes difficulties for credit institutions because lending and debt collection have specific regulations. It is impossible to cancel debts just because a few units are not operating effectively, which will set a bad precedent. For example, Song A Cooperative (Song Cau Town) stopped operating in 2009 due to storms and floods. Up to now, this cooperative still owes the Vietnam Cooperative Development Support Fund (under the Vietnam Cooperative Union) more than 300 million VND. The Provincial Cooperative Union also sent a document to the Vietnam Cooperative Union to consider canceling the debt, but it has not been resolved for many years. In the future, if they continue to request debt cancellation, they will continue to wait.
Find a way to untangle
According to Mr. Le Thanh Lam, to solve the problem in a feasible way, instead of just writing a letter requesting debt cancellation, the Cooperative Union proposes that specialized units in finance and credit study the records of each cooperative, compare them with current legal regulations to see if there is a chance of debt cancellation. If the debt is canceled, what procedures need to be completed, if not, report back to the Provincial People's Committee for other options.
Cooperatives that have problems with administrative procedures such as lack of seals, documents or old members who no longer exist, can be resolved administratively according to the guidance of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, but the key issue is the funding issue for the dissolution. According to Mr. Pham Trung Chanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Xuan district, the locality cannot arrange funding to dissolve inactive cooperatives, so it is only waiting for the provincial budget to be transferred. Meanwhile, according to the Department of Planning and Investment, the provincial budget is facing difficulties and cannot immediately arrange funding to handle these cases. In the coming time, the Department of Finance will advise competent authorities to balance and allocate capital for localities.
In case cooperatives are registered for establishment but do not start operating or complete the procedures for terminating tax codes for dissolution according to the provisions of law, the People's Committee of the district, town or city where the registration of operation is granted must bear responsibility.
Regarding this issue, Mr. Dang Kim Ba said that the Department of Planning and Investment has completed the report on the situation of cooperatives that have stopped operating and are waiting for dissolution in Phu Yen and submitted it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Provincial People's Committee and to relevant departments, branches and units, in which recommendations for solutions are made. Agencies and units, depending on their assigned responsibilities, will implement the direction of the Provincial People's Committee.
The Department of Planning and Investment has completed the report on the situation of cooperatives that have stopped operating and are waiting for dissolution in Phu Yen and submitted it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Provincial People's Committee and to relevant departments, branches and units, including recommendations for solutions. Agencies and units, depending on their assigned responsibilities, shall implement the direction of the Provincial People's Committee.
Mr. Dang Kim Ba, Deputy Director of Department of Planning and Investment |
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