Major communist party official charged with SOE mismanagement

The four projects Dinh La Thang is held responsible for

The Dinh Vu Polyester Fibre and Yarn project started implementation in 2008. According to inspection results by the Government Inspectorate, the project started incurring losses since its pilot run in 2012, when it lost VND21 billion ($923,000). In 2013, it lost VND366 billion ($16.1 million) and in 2014, when official operation started, it lost VND1.085 trillion ($47.7 million). As of March 31, 2015, the project’s accumulated loss was VND1.73 trillion ($76 million).

The initial investment was $325 million, which was later adjusted to $359 million. The plant had suspended operations temporarily many times before it officially closed at the end of 2015.

The three bio-ethanol projects include Dung Quat bio-ethanol plant in Quang Ngai, Phu Tho bio-ethanol plant, and Binh Phuoc bio-ethanol plant. Each has an annual capacity of 100 million litres. The projects were financed with 30 per cent capital from shareholders and the rest borrowed from banks. According to the Government Inspectorate, all three have incurred losses and were teetering on the edge of not starting commercial operations. As of November 2014, the total investment in the three facilities was VND5.4 trillion ($237.4 million).

Newswire vietnamnet.vn quoted a source as saying that the Phu Tho ethanol project may be allowed to go bankrupt in order to prevent further damage as the contractor PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC) is currently in trouble (a group of officials have recently been prosecuted for corruption and “intentionally violating regulations on economic management, causing severe consequences”). Also the market is not picking up yet and the cost of production is high.

The Dung Quat project may soon receive aid from a foreign partner to resume production. The Binh Phuoc project currently has a foreign investor as the controlling shareholder so the government has to wait for this investor’s decision before taking matters to its hand.

Dinh La Thang was born in 1960 in Nam Dinh. Below are some of the positions he has held over the past 30-plus years.

1983-1988: held different accounting positions at a member company of Song Da Corporation, also a member of this company’s Party Committee

1989-1994: held different accounting positions at Song Da Corporation, positions in the Party Committee of Song Da Corporation

1995- March 2001: Secretary of the Song Da Corporation Party Committee, deputy general director of Song Da Corporation

April 2001-October 2003: member of the National Assembly, chairman of Song Da Corporation

November 2003-December 2005: deputy secretary of the Thua Thien-Hue Party Committee, member of the National Assembly

January 2006- December 2008: chairman of the board of members at PetroVietnam, member of the National Assembly

2011-2016: member of the National Assembly, Minister of Transport

February 2016 to now: Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, member of the National Assembly