Troubled shipbuilder names new chief - again

There has been yet another change at the top at the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, with Truong Van Tuyen taking over as general director from acting chief Nguyen Quoc Anh.

Tuyen, 60, is a former general director of the state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the current head of the Dung Quat oil refinery.

Anh had taken over from Tran Quang Vu August 30 after the latter was suspended and then arrested on charges of mismanaging state assets while serving as the head of a Vinashin subsidiary in the early 2000s.

Vu himself had only been appointed July 1 in place of Vinashin's founding director Pham Thanh Binh who had been arrested on similar charges.

A government audit had found the company having debts of US$4.5 billion.

Police have so far arrested six Vinashin officials, including the two former chief executives.

Last month the government ordered commercial banks to suspend Vinashin's debt repayments and gave the company an estimated $130 million to complete its shipbuilding orders and ensure their delivery this year.

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Vietnam's Vinashin finishes Natixis debt repayment

Vietnam's state shipbuilder Vinashin has completed repaying its debt to French bank Natixis, using funds from the Vietnamese government's overseas bonds for part of the settlements, a government official said on Thursday.

Vinashin, which has been near bankruptcy, used the bond proceeds to repay the remaining US$3 million in the $25 million loan the French bank extended, Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Truong told a news conference.

"The group has now completed the debt settling duty with Natixis Bank," he said.

The overextended state conglomerate has racked up some $4.5 billion in debt, leading the government in July to reorganize the firm and later arrest several executives for mismanagement.

Truong rejected state-run media reports this month which said the government may allow Vinashin to use as much as $300 million from the $1 billion 10-year bond issued in January to settle the debt with Natixis.

Vinashin has raised $75 million by selling five ships and planned to sell another 35 ships to raise an estimated $160 million by the year's end, Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, head of the government's office, told the conference.

The government has also injected funds worth nearly $130 million to help Vinashin complete its shipbuilding orders and ensure their delivery this year.

Vinashin has projected turning a profit in 2013-2014 after losses expected in 2011-2012.

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Vietnam's Vinashin finishes Natixis debt repayment

Vietnam's state shipbuilder Vinashin has completed repaying its debt to French bank Natixis, using funds from the Vietnamese government's overseas bonds for part of the settlements, a government official said on Thursday.

Vinashin, which has been near bankruptcy, used the bond proceeds to repay the remaining US$3 million in the $25 million loan the French bank extended, Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Truong told a news conference.

"The group has now completed the debt settling duty with Natixis Bank," he said.

The overextended state conglomerate has racked up some $4.5 billion in debt, leading the government in July to reorganize the firm and later arrest several executives for mismanagement.

Truong rejected state-run media reports this month which said the government may allow Vinashin to use as much as $300 million from the $1 billion 10-year bond issued in January to settle the debt with Natixis.

Vinashin has raised $75 million by selling five ships and planned to sell another 35 ships to raise an estimated $160 million by the year's end, Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, head of the government's office, told the conference.

The government has also injected funds worth nearly $130 million to help Vinashin complete its shipbuilding orders and ensure their delivery this year.

Vinashin has projected turning a profit in 2013-2014 after losses expected in 2011-2012.

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Police arrest sixth official of troubled shipbuilder

Police said they have arrested the chairman of a subsidiary of state-owned shipbuilder Vinashin, the sixth senior Vinashin official arrested in the past two months, for further investigations into the financially troubled group.

To Nghiem, 51, chairman of the Cai Lan Shipbuilding Company, was accused of buying second-hand equipment for a US$36 million diesel-fired power plant in 2003, resulting in technical problems of four turbines.

Government inspectors say the power plant was therefore forced to close in October 2009 and lost VND62 billion ($3.2 million). The company is unable to repay VND107 billion ($5.5 million) of its bank loans.

Nghiem has been charged with “deliberately acting against state regulations on economic management.”

The overextended state conglomerate has racked up some $4.5 billion in debt, leading the government in July to reorganize the firm and later arrest several executives for mismanagement.

Nghiem is the sixth senior Vinashin official arrested in the past two months, including two former chief executives of the company - Vu Thanh Binh and Tran Quang Vu.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has asked the Finance Ministry to consider Vinashin's proposal to spend $300 million in sovereign bonds funds to pay off its debt at the French investment Natixis bank.

The debt-laden shipbuilder was ordered to work with Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) to negotiate with Natixis over the amount owed and the deadline for payment.

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Vinashin asked to report debt solution

The government on Tuesday asked the state-owned shipbuilding giant Vinashin to report its existing bank credit debt and propose debt solutions.

Vinashin must deliver the report by next Monday.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai instructed relevant ministries and agencies to stabilize production and operations, pay its employees and restructure personnel.

The group's managers and member companies conduct online meetings every week to review tasks and to solve emerging problems. The group was instructed to provide social insurance to its employees.

More than 5,000 Vinashin workers, or almost 10 percent of its workforce, lost their jobs when the company failed to pay VND234 billion (US$12 million) in salaries and social insurance in June.

Newly-appointed Vinashin General Director Nguyen Quoc Anh said that Vietnam's shipbuilding industry had potential. He said the group was working to overcome the hard times.

The Government Office reported that Vinashin's total debt was VND86 trillion ($4.41 billion) at the end of last month.

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Vietnam arrests four more at failing shipbuilder

A Vinashin's ship is pictured sinking at the Ha Long Bay in northern Quang Ninh Province in February, 2003.

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnamese police have arrested four more people linked to the debt-laden state ship-builder Vinashin.

Among those arrested on Friday was Tran Quang Vu, a board member who was appointed head of the failing and overstretched conglomerate after the government sacked his predecessor in July and ordered the firm reorganized.

Also arrested were Tran Van Liem, another former member of the management board, as well as Nguyen Van Tuyen and Nguyen Tuan Duong, who were former CEOs of subsidiaries of Vinashin, or Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group.

The four men were suspected of having "committed actions that are against the laws on economic management, which resulted in especially serious consequences", a statement by the Ministry of Public Security said on the government's website, http://www.chinhphu.vn.

It said clues had been uncovered in the investigation into Vinashin's long-time CEO Pham Thanh Binh, who was arrested early last month.

The Vinashin case could yet have implications for the economy. Government documents show that Vinashin amassed debts worth about $4.5 billion.

Earlier this week Fitch cut its rating of Vietcombank, the country's second biggest partly private lender in terms of assets and a pillar of the financial system, and said it "could potentially be hit" by its exposure to Vinashin, which was 16 percent of equity.

Fitch also affirmed its rating for Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, the country's second biggest state-owned bank by assets, but gave a similar warning about non-performing loans and Vinashin exposure.

BIDV had yet to disclose the extent of its exposure, Fitch said.

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