Chinese contractors fleeing Vietnam power project will be replaced

Chinese contractors fleeing Vietnam power project will be replaced

The Chinese contractors assigned to construct a multimillion-dollar hydropower plant in Vietnam’s Central Highlands will be replaced with a more capable firm if they insist on rescinding the contract, a major stakeholder of the project said Friday.

Vietnam Electricity (EVN), the country’s state-run power giant that holds a 30 percent stake of the Thuong Kon Tum project in Kon Tum Province, said it has been briefed on the disappearance of the Chinese contractors.

A joint venture between Hydrochina Huadong Engineering Corporation and China Railway Construction Co Ltd broke ground on the VND5.74 trillion ($270.36 million) project in 2009, but asked to end the contract in May when all construction units of the project are behind schedule.

The Chinese firms have brought chief officials, technicians, machinery and vehicles back to their home country, and there are now only a few workers left at the construction site while building activities have been ceased.

“The contractors gave up on the project because they are incapable of constructing as committed,” Nguyen Tai Anh, deputy general director of EVN, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday.

The Vietnamese project managers reported earlier that the Chinese contractors have asked for additional expenses that are not included in the contract, saying they faced difficulties in implementing the project.

Anh said as the Chinese firms have only proposed to end the contract, EVN is actively resolving the problem with two options.

“If the contractors really want to continue the project, they must improve their machinery,” the EVN official said.

“Otherwise, Vietnam will select another contractor and impose fines on the Chinese firms as per the contract.”

Anh added that a more capable contractor, possibly from Germany or France, could be chosen as an alternative.

The official also denied reports that the Chinese contractors have fled with the money allocated for the project.

“As for other EVN power projects constructed by Chinese contractors, everything remains normal,” he added.

Renegotiation scheduled

Vo Thanh Trung, general director of the Vinh Son – Song Hinh Hydropower JSC (VSH), the project’s investor, said the two parties failed to reach an agreement after two previous meetings.

VHS and the Chinese contractors are scheduled for a renegotiation on August 20, he added.

“Despite goodwill from the Vietnamese side, the Chinese firms still insist on demanding unjustified conditions,” Trung said.

Trung said VHS will create conditions for the Chinese contractors to return to the project.

“If they still refuse to continue the project, we will move on to another solution,” he said.

Asked if the Chinese firms are creating pressure on the Vietnamese side by bringing their workforce and machinery back to home, Trung said: “It’s not really so.”

“It’s normal for workers or machines that have done their jobs to return to China,” he explained.

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