The Ministry of Finance has proposed the State-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) focus on expediting the divestment of domestic enterprises operating in sensitive business fields such as real estate, investment funds, securities and insurance, VietnamPlus news site reported.

A view of Bach Ho oil field, which is jointly operated by Vietsovpetro and PVN. The Ministry of Finance urges PVN to speed up divestment from sensitive fields

According to the ministry, PVN will face difficulties in completing the large divestments in line with the 2017-2020 divestment plans while ensuring the best interests of the State.

The ministry noted that the prime minister had issued Document 1182 approving the list of firms under corporations for equitization and divestment in the 2017-2020 period.

As such, the ministry proposed PVN enhance its focus on divestment from enterprises in sensitive fields, such as PetroVietnam Finance Investment JSC and Green Indochina Development JSC.

In addition, the government’s Decree 126/2017 stipulates in detail the choice of strategic investors, conditions and procedures for selecting strategic investors and bidding organizations, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Seeking and selecting strategic investors should be done alongside equitization to guarantee appropriate choices, hence beefing up enterprises’ performance after their equitization, remarked the ministry.

Further, the ministry stressed that regulations on deadlines and progress in choosing investors and selling stakes to strategic investors are necessary to ensure the State-owned enterprises’ divestment takes place as scheduled.

SGT