Business
Chinese contractor’s USD50-million demand for Hanoi metro project turned down
  • | dtinews.vn | June 02, 2020 09:31 PM
The Ministry of Transport has refused a request to advance USD50 million to a Chinese general contractor for a Hanoi metro project.

To date, only four experts from China Railway Sixth Group Co., the general contractor of Hanoi’s Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project, are now in Vietnam with another 150 others still abroad.

 

Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project


The Chinese staff were scheduled to enter Vietnam by late May, however, due to visa problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, they have not yet entered the country.

The ministry has recently held an online meeting with the contractor on the project implementation.

At the event, the contractor requested an advance of USD50 million so that they could speed up the trial run of the project, mentioning capital shortages to make the equipment payment for their subcontractors.

This is an unofficial proposal which was made at the online meeting only. Even if officially made, this would be also rejected, said a representative from the Ministry of Transport.

Until now, Vietnam has paid 81.9% of the project’s total capital of VND18 trillion (USD782.61 million) to China Railway Sixth Group Co, which is in line with the contract signed between the two sides. The remaining payment will be made after the project is completely finished and handed over to Vietnam, he added.

Scheduled to become operational by late 2017, the project has been delayed many times as the Chinese general contractor failed to ensure the pace of construction, causing the project’s total investment to increase to VND18 trillion.

The route has been completed but is yet to be put into operation for courtesy of problems related to technical equipment at the depot and the safety assessment of trains, so, it is unsure when it can be put into service officially.

Hanoi authorities have asked the Ministry of Public Security to provide visas for around 150 experts from the Chinese general contractor who are expected to enter the country through a border gate in Lao Cai Province to continue Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project.

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