Circular No. 55/2016/TT-BTC dated March 23, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance providing for the certain contents of financial management of investment projects in the form of public-private partnership and costs of investor selection

THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

Circular No.55/2016/TT-BTC dated March 23, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance providing for the certain contents of financial management of investment projects in the form of public-private partnership and costs of investor selection  

Pursuant to the Law on state budget dated December 16, 2002;

Pursuant to the Law on bidding dated December 09, 2013;

Pursuant to the Law on public investment dated June 18, 2014;

Pursuant to the Law on construction dated June 18, 2014;

Pursuant to the Law on investment dated November 26, 2014;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 60/2003/ND-CP dated June 06, 2003 on detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on state budget No. 01/2002/QH11;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP dated February 14, 2015 on investment in the form of public-private partnership;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP dated March 17, 2015 guiding the implementation of the Law on bidding with respect to investor selection;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 32/2015/ND-CP dated March 25, 2015 on the construction cost management;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 59/2015/ND-CP dated June 18, 2015 on the construction project management;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 77/2015/ND-CP dated September 10, 2015 on annual and medium-term public investment plan;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 215/2013/ND-CP dated December 23, 2013 defining functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the request of the Director General of the Investment Department,

The Minister of Finance promulgates this Circular to provide for certain contents of financial management of investment projects in the form of public-private partnership and costs of investor selection. 

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of adjustment

1.This Circular provides for the following contents:

a) The financial management of the investment project in the form of public-private partnership (referred to as "PPP"), including:

-The management and use of expenditures for the investment preparation and the execution of projects of Ministries, regulatory bodies and provincial people’s committees as regulated in the Government’s Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP dated February 14, 2015 on investment in the form of public-private partnership (referred to as the No. 15/2015/ND-CP);

-The financial plan of the PPP project;

-The State capital contribution for the execution of PPP projects;

-The financial statement of completed PPP projects;

b) Costs of investor selection as regulated in Article 7 of the Government’s Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP dated March 17, 2015 guiding the implementation of the Law on bidding with respect to the investor selection (referred to as the Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP).

2.The following contents are not governed by this Circular:

a) The financial management of the official development assistance (briefly called ODA), concessional loans granted by foreign sponsors and other sources of capital under the decision of the Prime Minister for the investment preparation as regulated in Clause 1 Article 6 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP.  

b)The mechanism whereby the State uses the land to make payment to investors implementing investment projects under Build-Transfercontracts (briefly called BT contracts), which has been approved by the Prime Minister under the Decision No. 23/2015/QD-TTg dated June 26, 2015.

Article 2. Subject of application

1.Competent state agencies, investors, project enterprises, agencies and entities concerning the investment preparation, the project execution, the financial statement of completed PPP project and the operation of PPP project.

2.Entities that participate in or are involved in the investor selection as regulated in Article 7 of the Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP.

Article 3. Agencies making settlement of investment capital and account opening  

1.The State Treasuries shall monitor the settlement of the state capital for the investment preparation and the execution of PPP projects of Ministries, regulatory agencies and provincial people’s committees. 

2.Agencies that are assigned to manage the State capital for the investment preparation and the execution of PPP projects of Ministries, regulatory agencies and provincial people’s committees are permitted to open accounts at the State Treasuries where are convenient for their transactions.

3.The State Treasuries shall provide guidelines on procedures for the account opening as regulated by prevailing laws.

Article 4. Main investors 

The main investor of the PPP project is the project enterprise which is established by the investor as regulated by law or the investor if the project enterprise is not established.

Chapter II

MANAGEMENT AND USE OF THE EXPENDITURES FOR INVESTMENT PREPARATION, SUPERVISION OF THE EXECUTION OF PPP PROJECT CONTRACTS, AND THE QUALITY OF WORKS OF MINISTRIES, REGULATORY AGENCIES AND PROVINCIAL PEOPLE’S COMMITTEES

Article 5. Expenditure sources and spending contents  

1.The expenditures for the investment preparation as regulated in Points d, dd, e, g, h Clause 1 Article 5 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP shall be derived from the state budget which is balanced in annual recurrent expenditure plans of Ministries, regulatory agencies and provincial people’s committees.

2.The funding from the state budget which is balanced in annual budget plans for development and investment expenditures of Ministries, regulatory agencies and provincial people’s committees; receipts from the sale of bidding documents; the money repaid by the selected investor and other lawful sources of capital shall be allocated to cover expenditures as regulated in Points a, b, c Clause 1 Article 5 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP.

The funding for traffic works in the form of PPP investment are also extracted from project management expenditures of project management boards as regulated in Decision No. 1486/QD-BXD dated December 12, 2014 of the Ministry of Construction promulgating limits of expenditures of project management boards of competent state agencies for executing PPP projects in order to cover expenditures defined in Points a, b, c Clause 1 Article 5 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP.    

3.Other lawful sources of capital (if any).

4.Ministries, regulatory agencies and provincial people’s committees shall establish or appoint managing units to perform works within their duties as defined in project contracts; and allocate sufficient funding to project-managing units to fulfill their rights and assigned tasks.

Article 6. Formulation, approval and allocation of estimates

1.Grounds for making estimates

a) The list of projects approved by competent authorities or the investor s project proposal that is approved by competent authorities and supplemented to the List of PPP project as regulated in the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP;

b) The plan for executing PPP projects approved by the competent authorities;

c) The investor selection plan approved by the competent authorities;

d) Policies, standards and norms as regulated by prevailing laws.

2.Rules for making estimates

a) Contents defined in Clause 1 Article 5 of this Circular shall conform to current regulations on the formulation of the estimate of recurrent expenditures from state budget.

b) Contents defined in Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 5 of this Circular shall conform to current regulations on the formulation of the estimate of expenditures for development and investment.

3.Formulation and implementation of estimates

a) Ministries, regulatory agencies, provincial people’s committees and units in charge of performing investment preparation tasks and supervising the execution of project contracts and works quality shall, on the basis of the Law on state budget, the Law on public investment and regulations in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article, make estimates for each expenditure item and source of capital as regulated in Article 5 of this Circular, aggregate them into their annual state budget estimates according to each type of capital source and submit them to the competent authorities for approval as regulated by prevailing laws;  

b) After annual state budget estimates have been approved by competent authorities, Ministries, regulatory agencies and provincial people’s committees shall allocate estimates to units in charge of executing projects as regulated;

c) If there is an additional project approved during the year, the agency making stage budget estimate shall make an additional estimate and submit it to the competent authority for approval as regulated by prevailing laws;

d) Competent state agencies shall manage and use allocated estimates for regulated purposes.

Article 7. Statement and handling of funds

1.Annually, the state agencies in charge of managing expenditures for the investment preparation and the supervision of project contract execution and works quality shall make reports on the statement of expenditures according to each type of capital source and submit them to the competent authorities for approval.

Figures obtained by the statement of expenditures from the investment and development capital shall be included in the financial statement of completed PPP project.

2.All monies from expenditure for project preparation that is repaid by the selected investor and remaining receipt from the sale of bidding documents (after covering costs for bidding organization affairs as regulated) shall be paid to the state budget.

Article 8. Inspection and reporting

1.Ministries, regulatory agencies, provincial people’s committees and financial agencies shall inspect the management and use of investment preparation expenditures by competent state agencies at equivalent echelons or agencies in charge of managing expenditures for the investment preparation and the supervision of project contract execution and works quality on annual, periodical or unscheduled basis.

2.Units using expenditures for the investment preparation and expenditures for the execution of projects of ministries, regulatory agencies and provincial people’s committees shall submit reports on the use of expenditures to financial agencies at equivalent echelons on the basis of every 6 months or annual basis.

Chapter III

MANAGEMENT OF COSTS OF INVESTOR SELECTION

Article 9. Costs of investor selection 

Costs for selecting investor shall include: 

1.Costs for preparing pre-qualification documents, bidding documents and requests for proposals.

2.Costs for appraising pre-qualification documents, bidding documents and requests for proposals.

3.Costs for evaluating pre-qualification applications, bid package and proposals.

4.Costs for verifying pre-qualification results and investor selection results.

Article 10. Limits of costs of investor selection 

Limits of costs of the investor selection shall comply with regulations in Article 7 of the Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP.

Article 11. Management and use of the funding for investor selection

The management and use of the funding for investor selection shall be in conformity with regulations of the Ministry of Finance on the management and use of the funding for selecting contractors of projects funded by state budget and government bonds (presently, the Circular No. 190/2015/TT-BTC dated November 17, 2015).

Chapter IV

THE FINANCIAL PLAN OF THE PPP PROJECT

Article 12. Rules for making financial plans

1.Expenses and legitimate receipts accrued during the investment preparation, the execution and operation of project must be fully specified in the financial plan of such project in VND.  

2.Financial indicators of the project shall be calculated on the basis of the discounted after-tax cash flow according to the weighted discount rate.

3.Financial plans of projects using ODA funds and concessional loans granted by foreign sponsors shall comply with regulations in this Circular.

If the sponsor makes his specific regulations other than those stated in this Circular, the financial plan may apply the sponsor s regulations or comply with regulations in this Circular provided that such sponsor has no objection.  

The management and use of the funding from the official development assistance and concessional loans granted by foreign sponsors for the execution of PPP projects shall comply with the Government’s current regulations on the management and use of the official development assistance and concessional loans granted by foreign sponsors.

Article 13. Contents of the financial plan

1.Total investment capital.

2.Investment capital structure:

a) Owner’s equity;

b) The state capital for supporting the construction of works, the construction of auxiliary works, the compensation, site clearance and resettlement as regulated in Clause 2 Article 11 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP;  

c) Sources of capital mobilized by the investor.

3.Capital mobilization plan:

a) Owner’s equity:

-Total amount;

-Capital mobilization plan;

-Disbursement progress.

b) The State capital as regulated in Clause 2 Article 11 of the Decree No.15/2015/ND-CP (if any):

-Total amount;

-The source of capital;

-Contents of support;

-Disbursement progress.

c) Mobilized capital (commercial loans, concessional loan capitals, foreign loans and other sources of capital):

-Total amount of mobilized capital (according to each type of capital);

-The loan period, time of repayment and grace period (according to each type of capital);

-Interest rate for each type of loan capital and average interest rate;

-The currency units of loans and exchange rates;

-Conditions for ensuring mobilized capital;

-Necessary expenses relating to the capital mobilization (guarantee fees, commitment fees, credit insurance premium and brokerage fees);

-The disbursement progress (according to each type of capital);

-The repayment plan (according to each type of capital).

4.Concessional proposals for ensuring the financial plan of the project (if any).

5.Return on equity of the investor.

6.The period for executing, operating and recovering capital and earning profits from the project.

7.The plan for the capital recovery and profit of investor:

a) Estimated legitimate sources of income;

b) Estimated prices and service fees;

c) Estimated revenue of each legitimate source of income;

d) As for the Build – Transfer – Lease contract (briefly called BTL contract) or the Build – Lease – Transfer contract (briefly called BLT contract), the plan shall include the method that the State makes the payment to the investor; 

dd) As for the Build – Transfer contract (briefly called BT contract), the plan must specify the planned land parcel that has equivalent value with the payment made to the investor. 

8.Indicators for appraising the feasibility of the financial plan:

a) The competent authority shall decide to select the investment project on the basis of the following indicators:

-The net present value (NPV);

-The internal rate of return (IRR);

-The benefit/cost ratio (B/C);

-The return on equity (ROE);

-The period of project contract;

-The sensitivity of the financial indicators stated above due to the change of the total investment capital, operating costs, revenues or the period of project contract.

b) Depending on specific characters, regulatory bodies are permitted to use other financial indicators such as the debt to equity ratio, the debt service coverage ratio, the quick assets ratio, the current ratio, capital conservation measures as regulated by the law for selecting investment projects in an effective manner.    

Article 14. Total investment capital

1.As for the construction project: Total investment capital is the sum of investment and construction amount that is determined as regulated by the law on construction and the initial working capital for putting the project into its operation as per technical standards approved by competent authorities.

2.As for the non-construction project: Total investment capital is the sum of total investment expenses for putting the project into its operation and the project’s operating costs in the first year approved by competent authorities.

3.The State capital for the execution of project regulated in Article 11 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP shall not be aggregated into the total investment capital when determining the percentage of the owner’s equity.

Article 15. Owner’s equity

1.The owner’s equity of the project enterprise

a) The owner’s equity of the project enterprise refers to the owner’s equity of the investor which is contributed as committed in the Charter of the project enterprise;

b) The investor must ensure the ratio of the owner’s equity of the project enterprise to the total investment capital as regulated in Article 10 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP and such percentage of the owner’s equity must be specified in the project contract.

2.The owner’s equity of the investor

a) The owner’s equity of the investor is determined on the basis of the investor s financial statements of the latest year that have been audited by the independent auditing firm and report on the use of the owner’s equity of the investor at the time when the investor participates in the execution of the project.  If the investor is an organization that has just established in the year, the owner’s equity of the investor shall be determined on the basis of the financial statements that have been audited by the independent auditing firm for the period from the establishment time to the time when the investor participates in the execution of the project; and the owner’s representative, the owner or the parent company must make a written commitment on ensuring the owner s equity ratio under the project s financial plan.

b) If the investor participates in many projects at the same period, the investor must ensure that total owner’s equity must be able to cover the amounts of the owner’s equity that the investor has committed to contribute to all projects as regulated.

c) The investor shall send the plan on ensuring the owner s equity to the competent state agencies as committed and assume responsibility before the law for the accuracy and legality of figures and documents relating to the owner s equity, the list of on-progress projects and the allocation of the owner s equity to the on-progress projects up to the time when the negotiation of the project contract is carried out.

Article 16. Mobilized capital

1.The mobilized capital amount up to the time of contract negotiation is determined on the basis of the written commitment or agreement made between the capital provider and the investor. Total amount of money which shall be provided as committed by the capital provider must at least equal to the amount of capital that the investor must mobilize.

2.The mobilized capital must be in conformity with the progress of the project execution that is prescribed in the project contract.

3.The investor and the project enterprise shall report to the competent state agencies on the capital mobilization progress as regulated in the project contract.

Article 17. Loan capital interest

1.Loan capital interest consists of the loan interest incurred during the construction period that is aggregated in the total investment capital of the project and the loan capital interest incurred during the trading and operation of the project and determined in the project’s financial plan.    Interest shall only be charged upon loan capital; the owner’s equity of the investor shall not incur any interest as committed in the project contract.

2.The period for calculating the loan interest shall start from the disbursement of the first loan; the maximum period for calculating the loan interest shall not exceed the project execution period as regulated in the project contract. The loan interest is determined on the basis of the loan amount as committed and the progress of the capital mobilization as stated in the project contract.

3.Loan capital interest rate shall be specific as follows:

a) Bidding for selecting the investor: The loan capital interest rate is determined on the basis of the bid package of the selected investor;

b) If the investor is appointed without bidding, the loan capital interest rate is determined via the negotiation and agreement between the competent state agencies and the appointed investor. The loan capital interest rate referred for carrying out the negotiation and agreement shall not exceed 1.3 times the average yield on government bonds with 10-year maternity that have been issued by employing bidding method within 03 months preceding the time of contract negotiation.

4.Determination of the loan capital interest rate regulated in Point b Clause 3 of this Article shall be used as the ground for calculating loan capital interests stated in the project proposal and the feasibility study report which shall be considered and approved by the competent authorities.

Article 18. The investor’s profits

1.In case of bidding for selecting the investor: The investor’s profits shall be determined according to the investor selection result.

2.If the investor is appointed without bidding: The investor s profits shall be determined on the basis of the project’s feasibility study report on the principle of ensuring the project s effectiveness items and the result of the negotiation made between the competent state agencies and such investor.

The competent state agencies shall refer to average rates of profits of enterprises that operate in the business sector with similar nature, profits of similar projects compared to the market value at the project location and profits of other sectors and use them as the basis for carrying out the negotiation with the investor.

3.Ministries and regulatory agencies may, on the basis of specific nature of each sector, direct and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to establish the profit bracket for PPP projects within their authority.

Chapter V

THE STATE CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION FOR EXECUTING PPP PROJECTS

Article 19. Sources of the State capital

1.Sources of the State capital and the use of the State capital for the execution of PPP projects shall comply with regulations in Article 11 of the Decree No.15/2015/ND-CP.

2.Details of the State capital for the project execution, including supported contents, sources of the State capital and the progress of settlement of the State capital, must be specified in the project contract.

3.The settlement of the state capital is only made upon the testing and acceptance of the completed construction workload.  The value of the state capital is determined on the basis of the ratio of sources of investment capital defined in the project contract to the value of the completed construction workload that has been tested and accepted.   

Article 20. Settlement of the State capital for supporting the construction of the project and auxiliary works, the compensation, site clearance and resettlement 

1.Settlement documents

1.1. Legal documents that are submitted in one time.

The agency in charge of managing the State capital shall send the project’s legal documents to the State Treasury where its account is opened ahead of or at the same time when it applies for the first settlement of the State capital for the project execution in order to use as the ground for controlling the settlement of the State capital. The project’s legal documents consist of:

a) The project contract, its appendixes (if any) and legal documents enclosed to the project contract;

b) Contracts made between the investor or the project enterprise and contractors or suppliers and enclosed documents, including: Appendixes, agreements of specific or general terms relating to payments; written assignment of tasks or internal contract if the investor itself executes the works;

c) In case the works are executed by the investor or the project enterprise and those are performed without making contracts: estimates and decisions on approving such estimates granted by the competent authorities with respect to each work and each work item.   With regard to compensation, site clearance and resettlement works, the plan for the compensation, site clearance and resettlement approved by the competent authority must be submitted.

1.2. Settlement documents

a) As for the case where the project enterprise and the investor enter into an agreement to become a contracting party of the project contract as regulated in Point a Clause 3 Article 31 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP or the investor directly executes the project under the BT contract or the group-C project as regulated in Clause 2 Article 42 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP:  

-With regard to works carried out by the investor and the project enterprise via contracts signed with contractors or suppliers, the following documents shall be submitted:

+ Written record of the testing and acceptance of completed workload and the valuation table of the completed workload under the contract for payment that is made by the investor by using the form stated in the Appendix 01. If the workload generates out of the signed contract, the valuation table of the workload generated out of the contract for payment is made according to the Appendix 02;      

+ Written request for payment for the completed workload made by the agency in charge of managing the State capital for the execution of the PPP project by using Appendix 03;

+ Money remittance vouchers promulgated under regulations on accounting document system of the Ministry of Finance.

-With regard to works carried out by the investor and the project enterprise without making contract, the following documents shall be submitted:

+ Written record of the testing and acceptance of completed workload;

+ The estimate for each work approved by the competent authority;

+ Written request for payment of completed workload made by the agency in charge of managing the State capital for the execution of the PPP project by using the form stated in the Appendix 03;

+ Money remittance vouchers promulgated under regulations on accounting document system of the Ministry of Finance.

b) As for the case where the competent state agency and the investor grants a written permission to allow the project enterprise to receive and perform the investor s rights and obligations which are defined in the investment registration certificate and the project contract as in Point b Clause 3 Article 31 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP: 

-With regard to works carried out by the project enterprise via contracts signed with contractors or suppliers, the following documents shall be submitted:

+ Written record of the testing and acceptance of completed workload and the valuation table of the completed workload under the contract for payment that is made by the investor by using the form stated in the Appendix 01. If the workload generates out of the signed contract, the valuation table of the workload generated out of the contract for payment is made according to the Appendix 02;     

+ Written request for making payment for completed workload to the project enterprise made by the agency in charge of managing the State capital for the execution of the PPP project by using the form stated in the Appendix 03;

+ Money remittance vouchers promulgated under regulations on accounting document system of the Ministry of Finance.

-With regard to works carried out by the project enterprise without making contract, the following documents shall be submitted:

+ Written record of the testing and acceptance of completed workload;

+ The estimate for each work approved by the competent authority;

+ Written request for payment for completed workload made by the agency in charge of managing the State capital for the execution of the PPP project by using the form stated in the Appendix 03;

+ Money remittance vouchers promulgated under regulations on accounting document system of the Ministry of Finance.

1.3. Period for the settlement of the State capital

a) The annual funding plan that includes the allocation of the State capital for the project execution shall only include the payment for completed workload that has been tested and accepted as regulated (by December 31^stof the planning year, presently); period for making payment for completed workload shall be performed as regulated (by the end of January 31^stof the following year, presently).

b) If the settlement of the State capital cannot be completed within the planning year, the agency in charge of managing the State capital shall request the competent authority to grant permission for extending the execution and settlement period as regulated.

2.Advanced funding and settlement of the State capital for supporting the works regulated in Point c Clause 2 Article 11 of the Decree No.15/2015/ND-CP

a) The State capital granted for executing all works relating to the construction of auxiliary works, the compensation, site clearance and resettlement: 

Documents of the advanced funding and the settlement of the State capital for the project execution that serve the control and allocation of the State capital by the allocating agency; contents of advanced funding and payment for completed workload; rules for controlling payments of the State Treasury; period of advanced funding and payment period shall be performed in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Finance on the management and settlement of the state investment funding and documents of amendments (if any).

b) If the State capital is granted for executing a part of the construction of auxiliary works, the compensation, site clearance and resettlement, procedures, documents and period for the settlement of the state capital shall comply with regulations in Article 19 and Article 20 of this Circular.

Article 21. Settlement of the State capital for making payment for BTL contracts, BLT contracts and other similar contracts

1.Rules for the settlement of the state capital

a) The settlement of the state capital for making payment to the investor who provides services under the BTL contract, the BLT contract or another contract with similar nature as regulated in Point b Clause 2 Article 11 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP must be in conformity with the contents of the project contract signed between the competent state agency and the investor and regulations on the management and use of the investment funding derived from the state budget.

Conditions, amount, time, period and documents of the settlement of the state capital for making payment to the related investor must be defined in the project contract.

b) The settlement of the state capital shall start from the time when the service is provided as agreed in the project contract. The payment shall be made on the periodical basis according to the quantity and quality of provided service as agreed in the project contract.

2.Settlement documents:

a) Legal documents that are submitted in one time

The agency in charge of managing the State capital shall send the project’s legal documents to the State Treasury where its account is opened in order to use as the ground for controlling the settlement of the State capital. The project’s legal documents consist of: the project contract, its appendixes and other legal documents enclosed to the project contract.

b) Settlement documents

-Written record of the quantity and quality of service of the investor or the project enterprise;

-Written request for payment of investment capital (which is certified by the unit in charge of managing the project that is affiliated to the competent authority);   

-Money remittance vouchers promulgated under regulations on accounting document system of the Ministry of Finance.

c) Period for the annual settlement of the State capital

The settlement of the State capital for executing the project shall be carried out by the end of December 31^stof the planning year under the annual funding plan (if the competent authority grants permission for extending the execution and settlement period, regulations by such competent authority shall apply).

Article 22. Statement of the State capital for the project execution  

1.The agency in charge of managing the State capital shall prepare the report on the statement of the State capital for the construction of auxiliary works, the compensation, site clearance and resettlement, and submit it to the competent authority for verification and approval in order to use as the basis for making the financial statement of the completed project.

2.Annual expenditures derived from the state capital for executing works prescribed in Point a, b Clause 2 Article 11 of the Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP shall be aggregated by the agency in charge of managing the State capital into the financial statement of the completed project as regulated by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 23. Inspection and reporting

1.Ministries, regulatory agencies, provincial people’s committees and financial agencies shall inspect the management and use of the State capital for the execution of PPP projects on the annual, periodical or unscheduled basis.

2.Quarterly, the investor or the project enterprise shall report to the agency in charge of managing the State capital on the use of the State capital for executing a given PPP project.

Chapter VI

FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF COMPLETED PPP PROJECT

Article 24. Rules for making financial statement

As for the PPP construction project, after such project has been completed, tested, accepted and transferred for putting into use, the statement of the construction and investment capital of such project must comply with the Ministry of Finance’s Circular on the financial statement of completed project funded by the state budget (presently, the Circular No. 09/2016/TT-BTC dated January 18, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance) and regulations in this Circular.

Article 25. Formulation, submission and approval for financial statement

1.The agency in charge of making the financial statement: The main investor or the investor if the project enterprise is not established.

2.Documents submitted for approving the financial statement (01 set of which shall be sent to the agency in charge of verifying and approving the financial statement) shall be carried out in conformity with the Ministry of Finance’s Circular on the financial statement of completed projects funded by the state budget, project contracts and their appendixes.

3.Authorities competent to approve financial statements: Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, chairpersons of provincial people’s committees, chairpersons of district people’s committees if they are authorized by provincial people’s committees to sign and execute project contracts.

4.Authorities in charge of verifying financial statements:

a) As for projects managed by ministries or regulatory agencies: Functional units under the authority of ministries or regulatory agencies shall organize the verification of financial statements.

b) As for projects managed by provincial people’s committees: Departments of Finance shall verify financial statements;

c) As for projects whose contracts are signed and executed by district people’s committees: district offices of finance and planning shall verify financial statements.

5.Auditing of financial statements:

The competent state agency and the investor shall carry out an agreement on selecting an independent auditing firm that is qualified and experienced to perform the auditing of the project s construction and investment capital.

6.Contents of financial statement subject to the verification shall be performed as regulated in the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on the accounting finalization for completed project funded by the state budget.

Chapter VII

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 26. Effect

This Circular shall take effect on May 05, 2016 and supersede the Circular No. 166/TT-BTC dated November 17, 2011 of the Ministry of Finance on the management and use of project preparation costs and funding for operations of competent state agencies during the management of projects; some financial indicators of project contracts; conditions and payment methods for investors who execute projects under Build – Transfer contracts; financial statements of projects executed under Build - Operation – Transfer contracts or Build - Transfer – Operation contracts or Build – Transfer contracts.  

Article 27. Transitional provisions

1.With regard to project proposals and feasibility study reports that have been approved before the effective date of this Circular, the competent state agencies shall use this Circular as the basis for checking their financial plans for executing following steps.

2.With regard to project contracts that are under the negotiation and are not yet signed by the effective date of this Circular, the competent state agencies shall use this Circular as the basis for checking and amending terms and provisions of such project contracts.

3.Project contracts and their appendixes that have been signed before the effective date of this circular shall remain their validity.

4.Ministries, regulatory agencies and provincial people’s committees must send official documents to the Ministry of Finance for carrying out study and guidance in other cases./.

For the Minister

The Deputy Minister

Do Hoang Anh Tuan

 * All Appendices are not translated herein