Source: Economic Reference Newspaper
On a mountain beam in Zhangjiayuan Township, Tongxin County, Ningxia, towering fans wield long blades and slowly rotate in the cold wind, and the silver-white tower barrel shines with a large red logo "Datang".
"This was originally a wind power project that we approved for development." Si Xiuyun, the legal representative of the former Ningxia Tongxin Huifeng New Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huifeng Company"), pointed to the rotating fan and told reporters that the project was acquired by a company affiliated to China Datang Group 8 years ago, but the acquirer owed him more than 27.74 million yuan in transfer payments on the grounds of enterprise reform and change of parties. "How can a large state-owned enterprise like Datang 'new officials ignore old accounts'?"
Datang develops new energy to acquire private wind power projects
According to Si Xiuyun, the "Several Opinions of the State Council on Encouraging and Guiding the Healthy Development of Private Investment" issued in May 2010 clearly stated that private capital should be encouraged to participate in the construction of new energy industries such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. Inspired by this, she came to Tongxin County, Ningxia, where wind energy resources are better, and registered and established Huifeng Company.
At the beginning of 2011, Huifeng Company and Tongxin County People's Government signed an agreement to develop two wind power projects in Zhangjiayuan Township, "Sutai" and "Haitang Lake". After active efforts, the two projects with a planned installed capacity of 49.5 MW were approved by the Ningxia Development and Reform Commission on April 17 and June 7, 2011, respectively.
"In the process of preparing funds for independent development, new energy developers such as Datang New Energy, Guodian Longyuan and GCL Group have come to the door to express their desire for cooperation." Si Xiuyun said that considering that the two projects are adjacent to the wind power project of Datang Tongxin New Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Datang Tongxin Company") and sent out of the planning area in the same power grid, especially considering that Datang Group claims to be a "responsible, powerful and trustworthy" central enterprise, she finally chose Datang.
In August 2012, Si Xiuyun signed the Equity Transfer Agreement and the Supplementary Agreement to equity transfer with Datang Tongxin Company. The agreement stipulates that Datang Tongxin Company will transfer 100% of the equity of Huifeng Company, pay Si Xiuyun the equity price of 1,000,000 yuan and the upfront expenses incurred in the approved project 3758279 yuan. The supplementary agreement stipulates that the premium part of the two wind power projects is stipulated, and Datang Tongxin Company pays Si Xiuyun a total of 32,500,000 yuan for the project transfer of Huifeng Company, but the total equity price and upfront expenses stipulated in the transfer agreement should be deducted from the total 4758279 yuan, and the actual payment 27741721 yuan should be made, which should be paid in the project construction after the approval of the superior.
Si Xiuyun's statement was confirmed by Wang Chunyu, the signatory to datang in the two agreements. Wang Chunyu said that at that time, Datang vigorously developed new energy, and the source of the project mainly had two ways to apply for approval and acquisition. He was then the director of the development planning department of Datang Tongxin Company, and when he inspected the acquisition projects in the local area, he found that Huifeng's two wind power projects were very good, with wind speeds of more than 7 m/s and annual utilization hours of more than 2100 hours. He and Deng Shaohui, then general manager of Datang Tongxin Company, made a special trip to Beijing to report to Hu Yongsheng, then general manager of Datang Group New Energy Company. Hu Yongsheng clapped and said: "Hurry up and sign the contract, don't let the good project run." After he and Deng Shaohui returned, they signed an acquisition agreement and a supplementary agreement with Si Xiuyun.
Why did Datang not pay the arrears in the nearly nine years since the agreement was signed
It is understood that shortly after the signing of the transfer agreement, Datang paid the first transfer payment totaling 4,758,279 yuan to Si Xiuyun, but the remaining 27,741,721 yuan was delayed. Si Xiuyun has been looking for Datang to ask for an account, and Datang's previous reply was that according to the agreement, the money should be waited for "after the superior approves the start of construction, it will be paid in the construction of the project"; Si Xiuyun began to urge the project to start, and even proposed that "if Datang cannot start construction, the project can be returned, and Huifeng Company will develop and build it independently", and Datang's reply is that "the project is actively advancing".
On December 21, 2017, Datang Group finally officially approved the start of construction of two wind power projects, "Sutai" and "Haitang Lake". However, from March 2019, the project has officially started construction, and by March 2020, a total of 50 wind turbines of the two wind power projects have been connected to the grid to generate electricity. Si Xiuyun still did not get the arrears of the transfer payment.
Si Xiuyun began a new round of accounting. From the headquarters of Datang Group, to the Ningxia branch of Datang, and even to Hong Kong, where Datang New Energy Company is listed, the answer she got when she ran around was that "the enterprise reform, the parties have changed", "the original internal decision-making process is not perfect", "the time is too long", etc., and still can't get money. An Opinion on the Handling of Petition Matters made by the Xinyuan Division of The Ningxia Branch of Datang Group on August 21, 2020 stated: "There is no internal decision-making procedure in the Supplementary Agreement for Equity Transfer and the premium part, and there are differences in the expression of the supplementary agreement by the relevant parties", and thus concluded that "our company is unable to pay the 27,741,721 yuan of your petition claims".
The reporter interviewed the three parties to the Datang acquisition project - The agreement signatory Wang Chunyu, then general manager of Datang Tongxin Company Deng Shaohui and then general manager of Datang Group New Energy Company Hu Yongsheng, but did not hear the expression of "difference".
Wang Chunyu said: "The 27.74 million yuan is clearly written in the Equity Transfer Supplementary Agreement, and it is also stated that 'the Supplementary Agreement and the Equity Transfer Agreement are an inseparable whole and have the same legal effect', how could Datang not recognize the account? ”
"Everyone understands that it is impossible to acquire the Huifeng project (based on the more than 4 million yuan that has been paid). Deng Shaohui said, "The acquisition of the Huifeng project was decided by Datang Group New Energy Company, and the price was also set by them. ”
Hu Yongsheng said frankly: "The acquisition was decided by our team. The two wind power projects totaled 100,000 kilowatts, with a total price of more than 30 million yuan, and the wind power market was this price at that time, and the money should be given to others. ”
Although the three parties all believed that Datang should pay the balance to Si Xiuyun as soon as possible, they were powerless due to the change of position in the internal reform of Datang Group in recent years. It is understood that Datang Tongxin Company was later assigned to Datang Group New Energy Ningxia Company, and then later became the New Energy Division of Datang Group Ningxia Branch. Wang Chunyu changed from the director of the development planning department of Datang Tongxin Company to the deputy chief economist of the new energy business department of the Ningxia branch of Datang Group today; Deng Shaohui was changed from general manager of Datang Tongxin Company to general manager of Datang New Energy Ningxia Company, and then resigned and left Datang; Hu Yongsheng was changed from general manager of Datang Group New Energy Company to general manager of Datang Group Marine Energy Industry Company.
New officials must also sort out old accounts, large enterprises cannot "deceive the small with the big"
What is the attitude of the current relevant person in charge of Datang? The reporter came to the Ningxia branch of Datang Group to understand the situation. The staff of the party and group work department of the branch said that they would inform the leaders of the reporter's appeal and let them wait for the news. The reporter later called Hao Hai, general manager of the Xinyuan Division of the Ningxia branch of Datang Group, and Hao Hai replied that he "needed to report" for the interview, and after the consent of his superiors, he would take the initiative to contact the reporter. But there has been no news since.
"Datang's arrears in payment to the agreement due to enterprise reform, change of parties and other reasons are typical 'new officials do not pay old accounts'." Si Xiuyun said sadly that Article 13 of the Regulations on Guaranteeing the Payment of Funds for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (National Decree No. 728) promulgated by the State Council on July 14, 2020 clearly stipulates that "public institutions and large enterprises shall not refuse or delay the payment of small and medium-sized enterprises on the grounds that the legal representative or the main responsible person has changed, performed the internal payment process, or refused or delayed the payment of small and medium-sized enterprises on the grounds that the contract has not been agreed upon, on the grounds of waiting for the approval of completion acceptance and audit of final accounts." ”
Li Xinyan, director of Beijing Baohuade Law Firm, said that Article 53 of the new version of the Law on the Promotion of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, which came into effect in 2018, has made it clear that large enterprises may not default on the payment of goods, projects and services to small and medium-sized enterprises. SMEs have the right to demand payment of arrears from the defaulting party and to claim compensation for losses caused by arrears. Article 15 of the above-mentioned State Council Order No. 728 further clarifies: If the payment of small and medium-sized enterprises is delayed, overdue interest shall be paid... If no agreement is made, overdue interest shall be paid at a daily interest rate of 5/10,000.
Si Xiuyun calculated an account accordingly, since the signing of the transfer agreement for 8 and a half years, the interest owed of 27.741721 million yuan has exceeded 43 million yuan, even if it takes a step back according to the "superior approval to start" time agreed in the agreement, the interest has exceeded 15 million yuan as of now.
"Datang can't keep its word." Hu Yongsheng said that the decision to acquire both projects of Huifeng was public, and several leaders of Datang Group New Energy Company after him knew about it, and the transfer agreement was also clearly written. If the current leader thinks that the acquisition is wrong and does not give money to others, he will return the project to others. Wang Chunyu said that the benefits of these two wind power projects are now very good, one is that due to the delay in starting construction, the investment cost has dropped greatly, and the power of the unit has also become larger; the second is that the wind resources are very good, and the number of utilization hours has exceeded expectations; and the third is that the approved on-grid electricity price in that year is also relatively high.
It has been learned that the central authorities have clearly demanded that large enterprises should not use big money to deceive small enterprises and default on payments to private enterprises; both government departments and state-owned enterprises must resolutely put an end to arrears in owing accounts to private enterprises. Regarding Datang's practice of not paying the arrears in accordance with the agreement and not returning the project, Hu Yongsheng believes that "this is bullying other people's private enterprises", which is both illegal and contrary to the spirit of the central government.
On the eve of the reporter's press release, the latest news was received from datang group, which has aroused the great attention of the new leaders of datang group, and several leaders of the group company have made instructions to seriously investigate and properly solve relevant problems. In this regard, the reporter will continue to pay attention.