T2 BOT toll booths in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho. The MoT has a plan to increase fees collected at BOT projects’ booths. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry ofTransport (MoT) is set to propose to the Government a draft plan on feeincreases at BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) toll booths in response to decliningrevenue.
According to the previous roadmap, fees will beraised every three years by between 12 and 18 percent.
At the same time, according to regulationsstated in BOT contracts, by the end of 2019, 37 projects will see tollsincrease. Ten projects will see increases in 2020, and two in 2021. Fees atthese 49 projects are planned to rise again from 2022.
The ministry has received requests from someinvestors, asking for fee increases, however the Government has not allowed thechange.
The lack of timely solutions may lead tocompanies failing to sustain their initial financial plans, turning their loansinto bad debts and negatively impacting the Government’s call for investment ininfrastructure development project under public private partnerships (PPP), especiallythe ongoing North – South Expressway project.
To prevent this, the MoT has proposed twosolutions.
In the first solution, the ministry willnegotiate with investors and sponsoring banks to increase toll fees collectedat BOT booths between 2019 and 2021. In 2019, only projects that face fallingrevenue will be considered.
The solution aims to secure projects’ financialplans and does not include the State budget allocated to cover the shortfall.Moreover, the increase is said to not significantly affect the transportationcosts of companies.
The second solution is to maintain current feeranges. The fee increase will only applied to 49 mentioned projects from 2022.Some nine projects will experience failure of their financial plans and theGovernment will have to allocate 3 trillion VND (129 million USD) to supportthem to ensure their feasibility.
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat toldThanh nien (Young people) newspaper that the Government would decide whether toadjust the fees.
Meanwhile, according to Nguyen Van Quyen, Chairmanof the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, there have been severalwrongdoings in the management, investment and construction of BOT projects suchas putting toll booths in the wrong location or setting fees too high.
“The fee adjustment every three years can onlyapply for settled BOT projects. To those which face disputes, problems must besolved before fees are raised,” he said.
Sharing the opinion, economist Vu Dinh Anhrecommended reconsidering the roadmap of fee increases based on the revenuescollected.
For projects on the edge of financial failure,it is essential to develop new financial plans instead of adjusting inaccurateones.
According to the MoT, in 2018, 31 of 52 BOTprojects saw traffic flows higher than those predicted in BOT contracts andabout ten projects experienced low numbers of vehicles travelling through tollbooths.-VNS/VNA
According to the previous roadmap, fees will beraised every three years by between 12 and 18 percent.
At the same time, according to regulationsstated in BOT contracts, by the end of 2019, 37 projects will see tollsincrease. Ten projects will see increases in 2020, and two in 2021. Fees atthese 49 projects are planned to rise again from 2022.
The ministry has received requests from someinvestors, asking for fee increases, however the Government has not allowed thechange.
The lack of timely solutions may lead tocompanies failing to sustain their initial financial plans, turning their loansinto bad debts and negatively impacting the Government’s call for investment ininfrastructure development project under public private partnerships (PPP), especiallythe ongoing North – South Expressway project.
To prevent this, the MoT has proposed twosolutions.
In the first solution, the ministry willnegotiate with investors and sponsoring banks to increase toll fees collectedat BOT booths between 2019 and 2021. In 2019, only projects that face fallingrevenue will be considered.
The solution aims to secure projects’ financialplans and does not include the State budget allocated to cover the shortfall.Moreover, the increase is said to not significantly affect the transportationcosts of companies.
The second solution is to maintain current feeranges. The fee increase will only applied to 49 mentioned projects from 2022.Some nine projects will experience failure of their financial plans and theGovernment will have to allocate 3 trillion VND (129 million USD) to supportthem to ensure their feasibility.
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat toldThanh nien (Young people) newspaper that the Government would decide whether toadjust the fees.
Meanwhile, according to Nguyen Van Quyen, Chairmanof the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, there have been severalwrongdoings in the management, investment and construction of BOT projects suchas putting toll booths in the wrong location or setting fees too high.
“The fee adjustment every three years can onlyapply for settled BOT projects. To those which face disputes, problems must besolved before fees are raised,” he said.
Sharing the opinion, economist Vu Dinh Anhrecommended reconsidering the roadmap of fee increases based on the revenuescollected.
For projects on the edge of financial failure,it is essential to develop new financial plans instead of adjusting inaccurateones.
According to the MoT, in 2018, 31 of 52 BOTprojects saw traffic flows higher than those predicted in BOT contracts andabout ten projects experienced low numbers of vehicles travelling through tollbooths.-VNS/VNA
VNA
