Procuracy finds group benefits in Dinh La Thang case

Thai Binh 2 thermal power plant, where PetroVietnam arbitrarily appointed PVC

Choosing a qualified contractor

At the court session on January 15, 2018, Dinh La Thang declared that the bidding appointment of the project was based on PetroVietnam’s development strategy by 2025, the promotion of Vietnamese goods among Vietnamese enterprises and people, and the planned development of the oil and gas sector by 2025. However, Conclusion No.41 of the Politburo did not choose PVC as Thang claimed.

On the question of whether PetroVietnam implemented the bid in line with the directions of the government, the prosecutor said: “Responding to the PetroVietnam’s document signed by Dinh La Thang on appointing PVC as the project contractor, the prime minister assigned PetroVietnam to hold a bidding for the company meeting all requirements and regulations, but PVC was not named in particular.”

As for PVC’s capacity, the representative of the procuracy emphasised that the evaluation of a company’s general capacity goes beyond the profit and expenditure figures. Based on the financial and debt reports of PVC and PetroVietnam, he demonstrated that PVC faced many difficulties at the time and cannot deploy the project.

At the court session, Dinh La Thang and Trinh Xuan Thanh said that PVC’s capacity was not as good as Lilama at the moment, leading to double the time it took to implement the project and additional costs of over VND155 billion per year ($6.83 million).

Group benefits

The representative of the procuracy said that Trinh Xuan Thanh and Vu Duc Thuan were appointed to high positions in PVC by Dinh La Thang. Then, based on their personal relationship, Thang appointed PVC by circumventing legal regulations and ordered the advance payment of over $6.6 million and VND1.3 trillion ($57.3 million).

“This showed group benefits very clearly,” concluded the prosecutor.

At the court session, Thang said he did not know about EPC Contract No.33 and that any violation of state regulations were unintentional. However, the procuracy said that as PetroVietnam is a state-owned group, all assets of the group which were assigned for Thang to manage belong to the state.

Thang violated state regulations and damaged state assets by taking advantage of his role to appoint PVC as contractor.

Earlier, Vu Duc Thuan, former PVC general director and other people had clearly indicated that PVC does not have the requisite experience to execute the project and should not be picked.

Defendants in notorious PVC trial are proposed sentences of long-term imprisonment The People’s Procuracy of Hanoi yesterday proposed sentences of imprisonment to Dinh La Thang and other defendants.

PVC misused trillion-dong advance payment Almost all of the $6.6 million and VND1.3 trillion ($59 million) that PetroVietnam paid to PVC as advance payment to implement the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the $1.7-billion Thai Binh 2 thermal power plant was used to pay for PVC’s loans in banks.

PVC embezzlement trial starts today This morning, the Hanoi People’s Court opened the first instance hearing of Dinh La Thang, Trinh Xuan Thanh, and 20 other related defendants charged with “intentionally violating state regulations on economic management and causing serious consequences” and “asset embezzlement.”

Trial of Dinh La Thang and 21 others to start on January 8 On January 8, 2018, the Hanoi People’s Court will open the first instance hearing of the trial of Dinh La Thang and 21 other defendants in relation to serious economic crimes at PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC), according to newswire Vnexpress.