On May 21, the Hanoi People's Court began the second working day of the trial for 10 defendants involved in the 10-year delay of the Bach Mai and Viet Duc Hospital, facility two, projects. These delays resulted in 803 billion dong in damages to the State.

Former Minister Kim Tien's family submitted a total of 24 billion dong in restitution, as announced by the trial panel this morning. Kim Tien is accused of primary responsibility in the case, from the initial phase of selecting design consultants to construction and the eventual abandonment of the project.

This morning, the Prosecution proposed a sentence of five to six years in prison for Kim Tien on charges of violating regulations on state asset management and use, causing losses and waste. She is also held jointly liable to compensate 108 billion dong.

Beyond these actions, Kim Tien is also accused of receiving 7,5 billion dong in illicit payments from subordinates. This amount was part of 100 billion dong in "facilitation payments" from hospital construction contractors. This money is identified as illegal gains and must be returned.

The Prosecution determined that Kim Tien must still pay 91 billion dong.

The two former directors of the hospital project management board face the highest proposed sentences. They are charged with two offenses and have the largest amounts to pay: 223 billion dong and 394 billion dong, respectively.

The Ministry of Health, present at the court today as a civil plaintiff, expressed deep regret at seeing its former leaders and officials face legal judgment. The Ministry also lamented the 10-year delay in the project's completion, which has prevented it from serving the public and resulted in significant waste.

However, the Ministry hopes that with coordinated efforts and solutions from all relevant agencies, the project can be completed and operational by Q2 this year, as directed by the Government. This completion requires finalizing construction, procuring equipment, and establishing organizational and operational procedures.

The Ministry's representative requested the trial panel to reduce sentences for all defendants.

The Ministry of Health requested restitution for losses and waste in the case, specifically two amounts: 70 billion dong for losses due to violations in selecting the design unit, and 588 billion dong for waste from the 5,000 billion dong disbursed for the stalled project, totaling 658 billion dong.

The remaining 145 billion dong in damages represents bank interest. This amount was incurred by the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) when it withdrew 4,500 billion dong from savings accounts to fund the project, but the Project Management Board had not yet used these funds.

SCIC is currently managed by the Ministry of Finance. However, the Ministry's representative at court today did not clarify whether they seek to reclaim this 145 billion dong, requesting more time to report to leadership and provide a statement later.

Nguyen Thi Kim Tien at court. Photo: Danh Lam

Former minister Kim Tien questioned the damage calculations again. Yesterday, during the questioning phase, Kim Tien stated that during her tenure, she was "never aware of or informed about" any regulations for calculating waste in this manner.

Today, Kim Tien further requested the trial panel to question representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance. She specifically addressed two waste amounts (145 billion dong and 588 billion dong) which are linked to two violations: not utilizing 4,500 billion dong from SCIC, and the ineffective use of 5,000 billion dong from the state budget during three years of project delays.

Regarding the second amount, Kim Tien questioned why the project's use as an isolation and treatment facility for the second infectious disease hospital during at least five months of the Covid period in 2021 was not deducted. This use, she estimated, amounted to approximately 50 billion dong.

Concerning the 4,500 billion dong from SCIC, the Project Management Board did not use these funds during the 2021-2024 period and returned them to SCIC, which is managed by the Ministry of Finance. Kim Tien asked whether this money had been returned to the state treasury or remained in the Project Management Board's accounts.

According to Kim Tien, if the money had been returned to the treasury, the interest on these funds should be deducted from the calculated damages. However, if the funds remained in the Project Management Board's accounts, the damage calculation would be accurate.

The trial panel stated that these matters do not fall under the authority of the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Health to answer, and the Prosecution will debate them this afternoon.

Thanh Lam