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Vinashin pledges to pay debts after one year of restructuring
The Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) will be able to pay its debts after one year of restructuring, affirmed Vinashin Chairman Nguyen Ngoc Su in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency.
Su said that in 2007, Vinashin issued US$600 million worth of bonds through Credit Suisse loans. Under a contract signed between the two sides, Vinashin will pay this debt in 10 installments, each every six months with the first installment due Monday.
However, the group is facing financial difficulties so it has made a written request to foreign banks (Creditors), asking to defer debt payment by one year. Vinashin is certain it will be able to arrange capital sources from its restructuring to pay back the debts.
“At present, we are waiting for Credit Suisse’s final answer,” Su said.
According to Vinashin’s proposal, the first installment will be paid in December 2011 as the group expects to source the money from selling its projects, equitization, accelerating production, transferring vessels to customers and liquidating its stock of materials and equipment.
The Vinashin Chairman said the group expects to earn around VND23 trillion (Roughly $1.1 billion) from selling 216 affiliates. In addition, the group will speed up business and production activities as well as focus on completing ships built under signed contracts.
The equitization of several member enterprises is expected to help Vinashin retrieve part of its capital, he said, adding that the group’s stock of materials and equipment for building 100 vessels worth dozens of thousands of billions of VND will be used to build ships or sold to recover capitals.
According to the Vinashin chairman, the group is negotiating with ship building customers on extending contract deadlines to help it complete the building of ordered ships. By this time, the group has handed over 27 vessels and will transfer eight more on Saturday, raising the total number of ships completed in the last four months of this year to 35 as pledged with the Government.
Su said the group plans to hand over a total of 63 ships worth $700 million this year.
After Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved the scheme on restructuring Vinashin on December 7, the group held a meeting discussing the implementation of the plan for its 216 member units.
At present, Vinashin is negotiating with a number of potential investors who are interested in these businesses, the group’s chairman said.
As by June 2010, Vinashin faced debts totaling VND86 trillion, while its total assets were worth VND104 trillion, due to a sudden drop in the needs of the shipbuilding and maritime market in the world following the global financial crisis, and Vinashin leadership’s weaknesses and wrongdoings.
vietnamnet, VNA
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