The Politburo has appointed Tran Sy Thanh, party secretary of Lang Son Province, as the new chairman of PetroVietnam Group after its former leaders were arrested.

Party Secretary of Lang Son Province, Tran Sy Thanh, has just been appointed as new chairman of PetroVietnam

Thanh will also serve as vice head of the Central Economic Commission and party secretary of PetroVietnam. Lam Thi Phuong Thanh, vice head of the Party's Central Propaganda Department was appointed as the party secretary of Lang Son Province to replace Thanh.

The decision was announced on December 24.

The position as PetroVietnam's head has been vacant for nearly a year. The position has always been a challenge and has been dogged by controversy with several previous chairmen being arrested. Former chairmen Nguyen Xuan Son and Nguyen Quoc Khanh took the position for only a year before being arrested for mismanagement that led to losses of USD69m. Son was given a death sentence at a court earlier this year.

Former Chairman Dinh La Thang and Phung Dinh Thuc, former general director, have also been prosecuted. They are accused of deliberately violating regulations on economic management and abusing their position and authority to arrogate property, causing losses of VND800bn (USD35m) in the group’s investment in OceanBank.

Tran Sy Thanh was born in 1971 in Nghe An Province. He is a member of the Central Committee and has taken various positions such as vice head of the State Treasury, deputy party secretary of Dak Lak Province before being party secretary of Lang Son Province and member of the NA Finance and Budget Committee.

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