BM Desk : Salman F. Rahman, the former private sector advisor to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, owns Beximco Ltd., which has fallen behind on a loan in Germany.
The Germany branch of ING Bank has written to the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) to request repayment of the €33 million term loan that Beximco received from the Export Credit Agency.

The Scrutiny Committee on Foreign Loan/Supplier’s Credit, which was presided over by Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur, held a meeting on May 21 to discuss the issue. In the event that the borrower does not begin debt servicing, the committee recommended that the German lender take legal action against Beximco.

“The scrutiny committee resolved that Bida will tell the lender that they can continue for recovery as per the existing legal framework if no debt service is proceeded by the borrower,” according to the official meeting minutes.
Beximco obtained the €33 million ECA term loan from Germany’s ING Bank, but has not fulfilled its responsibilities to pay back the principal or security interest, according to a top Bangladesh Bank official. In response, ING Bank wrote to Bida to inquire what the actions taken by the Bangladeshi government against Beximco and the results obtained. The BB governor presided over the committee meeting where the letter was delivered and debated.

Records from Bangladesh Bank show that as of September of last year, the total amount of outstanding loans owed by the Beximco Group was close to Tk50,000 crore, of which half were at that point considered to be in default. Since then, the group’s debt defaults have grown even more.

Bida has received a letter from the Czech embassy in Delhi accusing Deshbandhu Group of non-cooperation following the group’s failure to pay a €4.10 million buyer’s credit from Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka that was covered by the ECA.
After discussing this letter at the scrutiny committee meeting, it was agreed that Bida would take the required steps to ensure that the borrower and the Czech Republic’s Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation (EGAP) communicate effectively in order to find a cooperative solution to the borrower’s non-compliance.

Salman F. Rahman, the chairman of the Beximco Group, was arrested and remains incarcerated after the Hasina government fell on August 5 of last year. The UK authorities recently seized properties that were registered in his son and nephew’s names. Golam Mostafa, the chairman of the Deshbandhu Group, has apparently been living overseas for a long time.
Since March 9, Beximco Limited, a publicly traded corporation, has permanently closed its fourteen plants. The government has paid off the workers’ debts from these factories. Beximco Limited has fallen behind on debts from the state-owned Janata Bank totaling around Tk28,000 crore.

Osman Kaiser Chowdhury, the managing director of Beximco Limited, was contacted via phone and SMS yesterday on the company’s debt default in Germany, but no response was obtained.
Additionally unsuccessful were attempts to contact Deshbandhu Group Chairman Golam Mostafa via SMS and WhatsApp call regarding the €4 million loan default in the Czech Republic.