HANOI: 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 recommendations 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 VNĐ2.26 trillion (US$100.44 million) into non-core businesses between January 2010 and June 2013.
The group invested VNĐ400 billion in the PG Bank, VNĐ171.36 billion in Petrolimex Insurance JSC, and VNĐ51 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 VNĐ232 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 VNĐ414.66 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 VNĐ178.50 billion invested in Petrolimex Aviation Fuel JSC and Petrolimex Land JSC, and VNĐ38.81 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 VNĐ56.16 billion in An Phú JSC, the notice said.
