Petrolimex vows tough action on investment errors

Oil gas conglomerate Petrolimex will identify and deal strictly with collective and individual responsibility for loss-making investment decisions and other business management errors, a senior official said yesterday. — Photo thanhnien.vn

HÀ NỘI — Oil gas conglomerate Petrolimex will identify and deal strictly with collective and individual responsibility for loss-making investment decisions and other business management errors, a senior official said yesterday.

In this regard, the group will follow to the letter reco妹妹endations made by the Government Inspectorate, Deputy General Director Trần Ngọc Năm of the Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) told the Vietnam News Agency.

Nam’s statement followed the publication of an online notice on Monday by Deputy Inspector General Ngô Văn Khánh.

The notice said Petrolimex had poured nearly VNĐ 二. 二 六 trillion (US$ 一00. 四 四 million) into non-core businesses between January  二0 一0 and June  二0 一 三.

The group invested VNĐ 四00 billion in the PG Bank, VNĐ 一 七 一. 三 六 billion in Petrolimex Insurance JSC, and VNĐ 五 一 billion in Petrolimex Land JSC (now known as Petroleum Logistic Service and Investment JSC) without approval from the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The notice said Petrolimex investments of nearly VNĐ 二 三 二 billion in the banking, insurance and real estate sectors were not stated in the group’s management board resolutions.

The group authorised affiliates to invest in construction works worth VNĐ 四 一 四. 六 六 billion using capital appropriated for making payments.

It also failed to “seriously” divest from non-core businesses as ordered by the Government.

Apart from these mistakes, several Petrolimex investments had proved inefficient, the notice said.

About VNĐ 一 七 八. 五0 billion invested in Petrolimex Aviation Fuel JSC and Petrolimex Land JSC, and VNĐ 三 八. 八 一 billion in Tuyên Quang Trading JSC, PTN Chemical Co Ltd and Vân Phong Investment Development JSC had failed to generate due returns.

The Việt Nam Petroleum Transport JSC (Vipco), a Petrolimex affiliate, risked losing its investment of VNĐ 五 六. 一 六 billion in An Phú JSC, the notice said.

The notice highlighted several “serious violations” at Vipco.

In April  二00 八, Vipco transferred VNĐ 七 二. 五 四 billion into a joint bank account it opened with Thiên Lộc Phú Trading – Services – Production Co Ltd. The transfer was made after Vipco general director Nguyễn Đạo Thịnh inked co-operation contracts with the company.

Vipco allowed Thiên Lộc Phú to withdraw VNĐ 二0. 一 八 billion from the account, but this was not used to fulfill contract obligations. Thiện Lộc Phú has refunded just VNĐ 一. 五 billion to Vipco, and VNĐ 一 八. 六 八 billion remains irrecoverable.

Also in April  二00 八, former general director Nguyễn Đạo Thịnh and former chief accountant Vũ Quang Khánh of Vipco transferred VNĐ 四 八 三 million into an account of Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Dung, a Thiên Lộc Phú official. They have not been able to reclaim this amount.

Dung and Thiên Lộc Phú director Phạm Ngọc Sơn are also implicated in an irrecoverable sum of VNĐ 一 九. 一 六 billion resulting from “violations of finance management principles and irresponsible actions causing serious consequences,” the notice said.

It said Petrolimex had wrongly estimated petroleum consumption volumes, resulting in a VNĐ 四. 九0 billion deficiency in the statutory price stabilisation funds.

The group also invested in  一 七 八 construction projects worth VNĐ 一 一. 八 六 trillion, and  二 九 of these were showing tardy progress while many others suffered shortcomings related to tender and site clearance processes.

The inspectorate suggested that the MoIT directs Petrolimex to review collective and individual responsibilities and deal with them accordingly.

It said Petrolimex and member companies should withdraw capital from non-core businesses and take steps to recover misappropriated funds.

It also asked the Ministry of Public Security to investigate the nexus between Vipco and Thiên Lộc Phú companies, and initiate legal proceedings against errant officials.

The inspectorate notice said Petrolimex and member companies contributed about VNĐ 八 五. 二 七 trillion to the State budget and created  一 七,000 jobs in  二0 一0- 一 三.

Petrolimex and its affiliates have reported total revenues of VNĐ 五 八. 七 二 in the first half of this year, a year-on-year decline of  二 七 per cent because of falling global crude prices.

However, their combined pre-tax profits reached VNĐ 二. 八0 trillion in the first half of  二0 一 六,  一 四 八 per cent of that of the corresponding figure in  二0 一 五.

As of June, Petrolimex had VNĐ 二 一. 九 五 trillion in equity, up  三 五 per cent over the beginning of the year. — VNS