Ship 67 in Nghe An incurred more than 163 billion VND in bad debt
(Baonghean.vn) - After nearly 5 years of lending for offshore shipbuilding under Decree 67/2014/ND-CP of the Government on a number of policies for fisheries development, banks in Nghe An are facing more than 163 billion VND in bad debt.
Nghe An is the province with the third largest number of ships financed by banks in the country with 104 ships receiving loans to build and upgrade, with a loan turnover of nearly 860 billion VND. Of which: Hoang Mai Town has 41 ships, Quynh Luu has 52 ships, Dien Chau has 4, Nghi Loc has 3, Cua Lo has 4 ships.
However, after nearly 5 years of implementation, the grace period has expired, but up to now, more and more ship owners have not fulfilled their commitments to pay principal and interest to the bank, and have not purchased physical insurance for the ship's hull according to the agreement signed in the credit contract.
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| Shipyard 67 in Tien Thuy commune, Quynh Luu district. Photo: Viet Phuong |
Up to now, of the 104 ships financed by banks, 81 ships have reached the deadline for repaying bank loans, of which 40 ship owners who borrowed capital from 7 bank branches have not yet paid their debts, the principal and interest is 28.9 billion VND. There are 20 ship owners who have not yet paid their debts, bad debts amount to 163.2 billion VND out of the total outstanding debt of 774 billion VND (accounting for 20.2%).
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| Fishermen prepare to go out to sea on boats 67 at Lach Quen fishing port. Photo: Viet Phuong |
There are many reasons why debt collection is at a standstill, especially in applying sanctions to cases where ship owners are slow to pay or do not cooperate in paying debts. This is not a problem of a single bank but a common situation in many localities across the country that requires drastic solutions.
To support commercial banks in debt collection for loans under Decree 67, and raise the sense of responsibility of ship owners in strictly complying with the credit contract term to enjoy preferential interest rates from the state, on April 11, 2019, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 2375/UBND-NN, requesting the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, localities, the Provincial People's Court, and the Department of Judgment Execution to take measures to strictly handle cases of deliberate procrastination and non-cooperation.
In case of detecting cases showing signs of taking advantage of State policies for personal gain, violations of the law, causing damage to the State budget, it is necessary to promptly handle them in accordance with the provisions of law.
