On Thursday, hundreds of people, including traders and contractors, surrounded the Phuoc Son Gold Co Ltd in central Quang Nam Province, requesting the company pay its outstanding debts. The confrontation took place on Thursday afternoon, causing the company (under the Bersa Group – a Canadian-Australian joint venture,) to send a report to local authorities informing that it had halted operations, said Pham The Quyen, chairman of the Phuoc Son District, where the company is located. The company has failed to pay its outstanding debts to business partners and small traders, Quyen said. Many set up tents in front of Phuoc Son while security guards closed the company’s gate, preventing the angry crowd from entering the premises.      Some of the protesters tried to force the gate open with tools, including hammers. They also prevented any vehicles from leaving or entering the company. The district police sent forces to the scene to keep order and security. In a report sent to the Quang Nam Province people’s Committee on Thursday afternoon, the company wrote that the blockade by its creditors had paralyzed the company’s operations and that such a besiege is “illegal,” causing public disorder. Therefore, the company decided to suspend operations from December 26, 2013, the report said. Large outstanding debts The district authorities said Phuoc Son has failed to pay its debts, totaling over VND30 billion dong (VND1 billion = US$48,000). Phuoc Son’s creditors are varied, from contractors, business partners, and hotels to small traders, including traders of vegetables and bread. Among the major creditors is Quang An Material Exploitation and Works Construction Company, located in Kham Duc Town, Phuoc Son’s main contractor.   On December 20, Quang An stopped its service of transporting gold ore for Phuoc Son, requesting the latter pay its debts totaling VND20 billion ($960,000).

However, Phuoc Son promised to pay only VND1 billion per month for a period of 20 months, the creditor said.     Le Thi Do, the owner of Trung Do Hotel, said Phuoc Son owed her VND420 million ($19,800), which is the accrued outstanding charges not yet paid by Phuoc Son’s engineers and experts who have stayed in the hotel. Bui Thi Lieu, a vegetable trader at Kham Duc market, said Phuoc Son owned her VND25 million worth of vegetables bought by the company. Hoang Phung Thuy Anh, who owns Gia Huy Bread Shop, complained that Phuoc Son has failed to pay her VND40 million worth of bread.$9 million of unpaid taxes The district People’s Committee has received complaints from locals about Phuoc Son’s outstanding debts and has recently worked with the company’s director on the issue, but the debt situation has yet to improve, said committee chairman Pham The Quyen. “I heard that Phuoc Son’s boss has left Vietnam for Christmas vacation. This afternoon [December 26], Phuoc Son deputy general director Pham Quang Ngu phoned, informing me of the company’s shutdown,” Quyen said. Phuoc Son is not only failing to pay its business debts but it has also failed to pay to authorities a natural resource tax of VND190 billion (nearly $9 million), the official said. Such failure led to the fact that the revenue of the district’s State budget this year only equals 56 percent of the target.