VietNamNet Bridge – Top leaders in Vietnam have reiterated the importance of promoting transparency and integrity among State officials as the only way to win public confidence. However, this seems to be a daunting task as there have remained problems with transparency and integrity, especially in the appointment of high ranking officials. In recent weeks, the former Minister of Industry and Trade, Vu Huy Hoang, has come under close scrutiny over two officials who are suspected of involvement in huge losses at enterprises but have still risen through the ranks.

Trinh Xuan Thanh, vice chairman of Hau Giang Province – File photo

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has ordered an investigation into a newly-elected deputy of the National Assembly after he was found to use a luxury Lexus 570 SUV to get to work. Early this month, Trinh Xuan Thanh, vice chairman of Hau Giang Province, and his expensive car bearing a blue number plate made big news headlines. Under the current regulations, blue number plates are issued for State agencies and white cousins for private car owners. Moreover, the prevailing rules cap the value of a car which an official like Thanh is allowed to use at VND920 million but the local media values the Lexus 570 in question at around VND5 billion (US$225,000).

Thanh, who was picked in the middle of last year to serve as vice chairman of Hau Giang for the 2011-2016 term, told the media that the car belongs to a private person who is a relative in Hanoi. He brought it to Hau Giang for official use since the provincial government had no autos left while no budget was planned for car purchases at the time. Therefore, Thanh said he asked the provincial government for approval to use a privately-held car but after the Lexus 570 was brought to Hau Giang, it was registered as a State-owned vehicle even though no transfer transaction took place.

The traffic police of Hau Giang have admitted this car registration change is wrong and they have retracted the blue number plate issued for the Lexus.

But what has aroused public curiosity is Thanh's chauffeur was the registered owner of the car before the number plate changed from white to blue. The provincial government employed the chauffeur at the request of Thanh with a monthly wage of a mere VND3 million (US$150).

Party chief Trong also told Party agencies to look into Thanh’s promotion process. As the media is digging deep into Thanh’s past, more suspicious irregularities have been found.

Prior to his transfer to Hau Giang, Thanh served as deputy general director and then chairman of PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC) from 2007 to 2013. At the end of 2013, PVC racked up losses of VND3.2 trillion (US$142 million) after it had injected huge sums into its affiliates and associate entities.

But then Thanh was appointed as deputy office manager of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In January 2014, the then Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) to find those responsible for PVC’s hefty losses. However, just a month later, Thanh took up the post of head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Enterprise Reform Department. In the general election earlier this month, Thanh was also elected to the National Assembly. But his future has now become uncertain as Pham Minh Chinh, head of the Party Central Committee's Organization Commission, which is responsible for the Party's personnel matters, has told the Party Committee of Hau Giang Province to suspend re-nominating Trinh Xuan Thanh to the post of vice chairman for the 2016-2021 term.

The Trinh Xuan Thanh scandal has yet to subside but the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) has just questioned former Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang for a number of appointment decisions that might not have been made on proper grounds. One of the decisions involves his son, Vu Quang Hai, who allegedly left behind hefty losses at a company where Hai served as general director.

According to a letter sent to relevant Party and State agencies by the association, Hai was picked by the ministry in 2015, when he was only 28, to sit on the board of Saigon Beer Alcohol-Beverage JSC (Sabeco), and was later elected as deputy general director of Sabeco.

According to VAFI’s letter, in 2011, when Hai was 25 years old and had no previous experience in business management, he was appointed as general director of PetroVietnam Trade Union Finance Investment Corporation (PVFI) where PVN held a stake. With total chartered capital of more than VND300 billion, PVFI is under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. With Hai at the helm for two years, PVFI incurred a total loss of more than VND220 billion, VAFI said. However, Hai told the media that that figure had accumulated before that and he had helped PVFI reduce it by two-thirds before he left.

Then, Hai was transferred to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Promotion Agency, leaving PVFI on the edge of bankruptcy. After a year at the agency, he moved to Sabeco.

Regarding the equitization of the ministry’s enterprises, VAFI said Sabeco carried out an initial public offering (IPO) eight years ago, but the then Minister Hoang delayed transferring the State's share holding at Sabeco to State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) and listing Sabeco shares on the stock market. VAFI claimed this delay tactic enabled the appointment of his son and his secretary to senior positions at Sabeco. VAFI urged the former minister to let his son step down at Sabeco, and called for Hai to take responsibility for PVFI losses.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa, who signed a decision sending Hai to Sabeco, has also been asked to explain her decision. VAFI said it began taking issue with the ministry more than a month ago but has not received a response.

Former Minister Hoang on Wednesday explained that the appointment of his son came at the request of Sabeco and that the appointment process was approved by the ministry’s Party Committee. Regarding the VND220-billion million loss at PVFI, Hoang claimed it had been incurred before his son was appointed in 2011 by PVN. So, it was not his responsibility.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh has ordered all units under the ministry to review staff appointments and transfers in the 2013-2015 period and submit reports next week.

The resolute steps taken by the Party are seen as positive in the fight against graft.

SGT