Viet Nam Electricity (EVN) would withdraw all of its investments from non-electricity businesses in the next one to two years, said Pham Le Thanh, the group's general director, at a press conference held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade last Saturday.

Thanh said the decision was made following a request by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. At Dung's request, the EVNTelecom company, which operates under the EVN, will be transferred to the management of the Viettel Corporation. The EVN will also withdraw all capital from the banking sector.

Thanh added that funds for power transmission were alarmingly limited, as the National Power Transmission Corporation had only managed to mobilise 50 per cent of the total funds needed for electricity projects over the next five years.

According to a report on the power industry in 2010 discussed at the meeting, the EVN suffered a loss of nearly VND10.16 trillion (US$484 million).

The loss was attributed to the lack of water in hydroelectric plants due to droughts which caused the EVN to depend upon its oil-fired plants and to procure power at a higher cost from other sources. Other reasons cited were the price of fuel, exchange rate fluctuations and slow progress in the construction of some power plants.

These figures and remarks were the results of audit conducted by a team of officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance.

Thanh said 2010 was the first year the EVN had suffered from a loss.

VNS