Model PPAs for LNG and Coal Fired Power Projects under Circular 57/2020

1) Background

a) On 31 December 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) issued Circular 57/2020 regulating the method to calculate the tariff, and the power purchase agreement. Circular 57/2020 replaces Circular 56/2014 from 22 February 2021.

b) In this post, we will provide our comparison of Circular 57/2020 with Circular 56/2014.

Please download the pdf version here.

This post is written by Nguyen Hoang Duy and edited by Nguyen Quang Vu.

Enforceability of agreement on liquidated damages under Vietnamese law

Summary. Vietnamese law does not have a clear concept of liquidated damages. There are strong legal provisions supporting for the use of liquidated damages. However, due to the lack of clear legal ground for liquidated damages, it appears that in practice, relying on certain provisions on calculation of damages, some courts in Vietnam appear to have not recognised and enforced an agreement on liquidated damages.

We discuss below the arguments supporting an agreement on liquidated damages and the enforceability of such an agreement in a commercial dispute under the law of Vietnam.

Reputational damage arising from breaches of a commercial contract under Vietnamese law

In Vietnam, it is not common to see the aggrieved party claiming for damage which causes harm to its reputation (Reputational Damage) due to breaches of commercial contracts by the defaulting party. However, in principle, Reputational Damage due to breaches of a commercial contract should be claimed and recovered under Vietnamese law for the following reasons:

  • Under Article 419.3 and 361.3 of Civil Code 2015, an aggrieved party may claim for moral damage arising from a breach of contract, which includes, among others, moral losses caused by infringement of reputation;

  • Reputational Damage may be considered as “actual and direct loss” under Article 302.2 of Commercial Law 2005 if the aggrieved party has actually incurred the loss of reputation directly arising from a breach of contract by the defaulting party;

Venture North Law's Legal Guide To Merger Control In Vietnam

This guidance provides an overview of “merger control” regulations in Vietnam. It will cover regulatory framework and authority, relevant trigger events and thresholds, notification requirements, procedures and timetable, substantive test, remedies, penalties, and appeals. Many of the questions in Venture North Law’s merger control guide follow the standard questions in the International Comparative Legal Guide to Merger Control published by Global Legal Group annually.

This guidance is written by Nguyen Quang Vu, Le Minh Thuy, Ha Thanh Phuc, and Trinh Phuong Thao. The simplified version is arranged and edited by Tran Kim Chi.

A simplified version of the Venture North Law's Legal Guide To Merger Control In Vietnam could be downloaded here.

A full version with all legal citation of the guide could be downloaded here.