VietNamNet Bridge – Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has told State-owned enterprise (SOEs) to divest a total of more than VND14.5 trillion (some US$679.5 million) from non-core business operations this year.

The State capital divestment is part of a task for SOE restructuring this year, according to a statement released by the Government Office to convey key remarks of the Deputy PM at a recent meeting with the Steering Committee for SOE Reform and Development.

State-owned groups and corporations should pull State capital out of securities, finance and banking, insurance, real estate and investment funds in line with a SOE restructuring plan for 2014-2015 approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and ministries.

In January-October last year, SOEs divested over VND2.4 trillion, nearly 2.5 times higher than that in all of 2013. As of December 25 last year, they sold State holdings worth VND8 trillion at 233 companies, much higher than book value. But the divestment from securities was just 98% of book value.

Under the Government’s Decision No. 929 issued in 2012 on SOE restructuring, State-owned groups and corporations must complete divestments from non-core businesses by the end of this year, otherwise State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) will purchase their stakes subject to transfers at reasonable prices.

PetroVietnam divests VND1 trillion from non-core business operations    

 * Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) divested over VND1 trillion from non-core businesses as of last December, according to Vietnam News Agency.

PetroVietnam Ca Mau Fertilizer Company Limited was responsible for much of the amount. Last year, this firm finished divestments from PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation and PetroVietnam General Services Joint Stock Corporation, and Lai Vu Industrial Park in Hai Duong Province was transferred to the provincial government at a cost of VND593 billion.

PetroVietnam is in now negotiations with Russian oil firm Gazprom Neft to convert Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited into a two-member limited liability company and renovate the Dung Quat Oil Refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai. The corporation plans to equitize or diversify ownership at Binh Son and Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company Limited this year.

The enterprise will concentrate resources on oil and gas exploration and pumping; petrochemical, gas and electricity projects, and premium oil and gas services as envisaged in PetroVietnam’s restructuring plan.

PetroVietnam aims to pull VND4 trillion in State capital out of non-core sectors this year.

SGT