The newest movements in the dispute between Vietmindo and TAVIBA

The press conference hosted by Vietmindo

Besides reporters from different media agencies, company representatives, and their lawyers, 40 workers of Vietmindo also participated in the conference to answer all questions of the media.

Addressing the conference, Hendra Gumawan, CEO of Vietmindo, said that although Vietmindo strictly adhered to Conclusion No.24/TB-UBND issued by the Uong Bi People's Committee after the meeting on January 17, 2019 and transferred VND20 billion ($869,600) to TAVIBA, the other side did not move its vehicles and equipment from the mine, and the municipal authorities did not provide support in removing the obstacles from the mining site.

On March 12, Vietmindo sent a document to the Chairman of the Uong Bi People’s Committee and the Chief of Uong Bi Public Security. Accordingly, the company’s legal team requested the administrative and justice agencies to uphold the agreement between Vietmindo and TAVIBA and resolve the contractual dispute which should have been forwarded to the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

Besides, the lawyer also required the authorities to take the appropriate measures to punish TAVIBA’s employees for disturbing and obstructing normal activities at the site, agitating Vietmindo’s employees, and causing public disorder, as well as holding and using illegal weapons like guns.

In response, the Quang Ninh People’s Committee released Document No.1530/UBND-NC dated March 13, 2019 on ensuring security and order inside and outside the mining site of Vietmindo and Document No.534/UNND-NC dated March 13, 2019 in which the two companies are required to solve the dispute according to the agreement mentioned in the signed contract and the dispute should be handled by March so that the two sides can continue mining activities.

Meanwhile, according to Pham Xuan Manh, deputy director of TAVIBA, the company has reported the situation to the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam. To carry out the contract with Vietmindo, TAVIBA invested VND200 billion ($8.7 million) in machines, dozens of billions of VND in building, upgrading, and repairing roads, drainage system, infrastructure, and hired 300 permanent workers. “Vietmindo’s contract termination caused TAVIBA huge losses,” Manh said.

According to Manh, since carrying out the contract in 2015, TAVIBA did not violate the contract’s provisions, except for a single quarter in which they could not finish the target and TAVIBA compensated Vietmindo for the loss caused. Besides, TAVIBA timely corrected their mistake by increasing the output in the next quarters and the output for the whole year was even higher than the target.

At the moment, VIR is trying to connect the authorities of Uong Bi city and Quang Ninh province to provide coverage of the newest developments.