Hanoi (dpa) – A US hedge fund has dropped its lawsuit against Vietnamese conglomerate Vinashin over unpaid debts, an official said Tuesday. Elliot Advisors Ltd told the shipmaker on March 16 that they were cancelling the lawsuit to recover interest and principal on a defaulted loan, Vinashin chairman Nguyen Ngoc Su told dpa. Su refused to comment when asked whether the two parties had made an out-of-court settlement. The money was part of a 600-million-dollar bond issue arranged by Credit Suisse in 2007. The company defaulted on the first payment of 60 million dollars of the loan in 2010. Elliot Advisors filed the claim with the British High Court in November. Creditors and the Vietnamese government have so far reached no agreement on plans to restructure the loan. Also Tuesday, nine former executives from the shipbuilding group went on trial for causing losses of 43 million dollars to the state. They were arrested in 2010 after a police investigation into mismanagement of the firm, once brandished as an example of government strategy in advancing industrial development through state-run companies. Originally established for shipbuilding, the company then diversified into businesses including securities and tourism. When the 2008-2009 global recession hit its revenues, it was unable to keep up with its debt repayments. The company narrowly avoided bankruptcy last year with debts of 4.6 billion dollars. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/09wXc Tags: Elliot Advisors, Lawsuit, Vietnam, Vinashin Section: Business, Latest News, Southeast Asia
