Canadian gold firm urged to resume operations at Vietnam mines
Canadian gold firm urged to resume operations at Vietnam mines
Canada’s Besra Gold Inc, whose Vietnamese units repeatedly refused to pay taxes, should reopen its two gold mines in central Vietnam and cover their liabilities, the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance has ordered.
The Toronto-based company, through its Vietnamese unit Besra Vietnam, operates two gold mining companies, namely Phuoc Son and Bong Mieu, in the Vietnamese central province of Quang Nam.
However, in July the company announced that it would shut down both of the firms, after their bank accounts were frozen by the province’s tax department as a coercive measure against its VND230 billion (US$10,826) in tax arrears.
The finance ministry has said it is “strictly watching over the case to find a solution for the issue,” while underscoring the importance of having the two gold mines return to operations in order to “repay worker salaries and clear debts to local businesses who are the mining companies’ partners.”
“Phuoc Son Co is still operating at a gain and they did not evade taxes -- they just owe them,” the ministry said, adding that the firm has paid around VND100 billion ($4,707) in taxes in previous years.
Nguyen Ngoc Nam, deputy head of the secretariat of the Quang Nam’s People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday that whether the gold mining firms will be shut down or not is up to the company executives, and local authorities will not intervene in the matter.
“But if they actually resume operations, they must operate as per Vietnamese laws and clear their tax debts,” he stressed.
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