Ship 67 in Nghe An has incurred over 163 billion VND in bad debt.
(Baonghean.vn) - After nearly 5 years of lending for offshore fishing vessel construction under Government Decree 67/2014/ND-CP on some policies for fisheries development, banks in Nghe An are facing more than 163 billion VND in bad debts.
Nghe An province ranks third nationwide in the number of vessels financed by banks, with 104 vessels receiving loans for new construction or upgrades, totaling nearly 860 billion VND. Specifically: Hoang Mai town has 41 vessels, Quynh Luu 52 vessels, Dien Chau 4, Nghi Loc 3, and Cua Lo 4 vessels.
However, after nearly five years of implementation and the grace period having expired, an increasing number of ship owners are failing to fulfill their commitments regarding principal and interest repayment to the bank, and are not purchasing hull insurance as agreed in the credit contract.
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| Shipyard No. 67 in Tien Thuy commune, Quynh Luu district. Photo: Viet Phuong |
To date, out of 104 vessels financed by banks, 81 have reached their repayment deadlines. Of these, 40 ship owners who borrowed from 7 bank branches have not yet repaid their loans, with principal and interest totaling 28.9 billion VND. Twenty ship owners are delinquent in repaying their loans, resulting in bad debts of 163.2 billion VND out of a total outstanding loan of 774 billion VND (accounting for 20.2%).
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| Fishermen prepare to set sail on 67-ton vessels at Lach Quen fishing port. Photo: Viet Phuong. |
There are many reasons why debt recovery efforts are stalled, especially in applying sanctions to cases where ship owners are delinquent and uncooperative in repaying debts. This is not just a problem for one bank, but a common situation in many localities across the country, requiring decisive solutions.
To support commercial banks in recovering debts for loans under Decree 67, and to raise the sense of responsibility of ship owners in strictly adhering to the terms of credit contracts to enjoy preferential interest rates from the state, on April 11, 2019, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Letter No. 2375/UBND-NN, requesting the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, localities, the Provincial People's Court, and the Enforcement Department to take strict measures to handle cases of deliberate procrastination and non-cooperation.
In cases where incidents are detected that show signs of exploiting state policies for personal gain, or that violate the law and cause damage to the state budget, they must be promptly handled in accordance with the law.
