HÀ NỘI — Platinum Cineplex, the biggest cinema operator by screen in Hà Nội, will be forced to cease operations at three Vincom trading centres on Friday ahead of an expiration date agreed in the lease with the Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company.

As reported by local media, on Monday, after months of negotiations, the M.V.P Group from Indonesia – founder of the Platinum Cineplex – was told by the Vietnamese partner to remove its equipment from the centres and returning the spaces to the Vincom retail company on Friday.

The three cinema complexes with a total 28 screens include Platinum Royal City in Thanh Xuân District, Platinum Times City in Hai Bà Trưng District and Platinum Long Biên in Gia Lâm District.

The first Platinum cineplex in Hà Nội made debut in 2011. The contract was set to last for 15 years. 

Explaining the reason for terminating the contract ahead of schedule, Trần Mai Hoa, general director of the Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company, told Zing.vn that it was a simple business deal.

“The reason is that the two sides failed to reach agreement for further co-operation,” she said.

“After several years of operation, Platinum has not had proper investment so its service quality no longer meets the criteria of our trading centres. Therefore, the co-operation between us cannot be continued.”

The poor service has negatively affected the operation of Vincom trading centres, Hoa said, adding that several meetings had been held to discuss the issue, but until the middle of 2016, no action was taken to improve the situation.

M.V.P also delayed payments, leading to large debt, the Vincom representative said. At one point, Platinum’s debt amounted to several billion đồng. The debt is still not settled.

“We have to consider carefully and make a decision in compliance with legal regulations and contract clauses and take into account the benefits of both sides,” she said.  

Hoa affirmed that her company had sufficient legal foundation for lawsuits if the issue was taken to court. However, she said it hoped the problem would be solved peacefully in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation.

Hoa said that M.V.P would be compensated satisfactorily but denied to disclose the amount of compensation.

She denied local media reports that removing equipment from the three centres cost US$25 million.

Vincom Retail was seeking other partners to replace Platinum, Hoa said.

Việt Nam News was unable to contact representatives of Platinum Complex in Hà Nội for comment.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Platinum Cineplex’s website did not provide show time in the next three days for moviegoers to book tickets at the three cinemas as usual.

The information is only available at the Platinum The Garden in Hà Nội’s Nam Từ Liêm District and the Platinum Nha Trang in the south central coastal Nha Trang City. — VNS