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The State Bank’s decision to buy Ocean Bank at zero dong means that PetroVietnam, the national oil and gas group, will incur a complete loss i

n the

investment deal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A question has been raised about how the state will deal with putting the blame on PetroVietnam, a state-owned conglomerate, for the unprofitable investment deal, which led to a loss of the state’s money.

Ocean Bank’s 2014 financial report showed that PetroVietnam now holds 80 million Ocean Bank’s shares, or 20 percent of the bank’s charter capital. 

There are three other shareholders holding more than five percent of the bank’s stakes, including Ocean Group (20 percent), VNT, a limited company (20 percent) and the Song Da Investment and Corporation JSC (6.65 percent).

Cao Sy Kiem, a member of the National Advisory Council for Finance and Monetary Policies, said there are two questions to be clarified in the case. First, the sources of capital PetroVietnam used to invest in Ocean Bank and second, a question about how the investment deal was approved by the governing body.

If PetroVietnam contributed capital to Ocean Bank despite disapproval, it will be necessary to hold the managers who signed the investment decision responsible.

“PetroVietnam’s managers will have to answer to the State for the unprofitable investment deal,” Kiem said.

“They will have to either bear criminal responsibility or make compensation for the loss as they invested in OceanBank with the state’s money and took a loss,” he said.

Nguyen Ngoc Bao, deputy chair of the Central Economics Committee, said PetroVietnam’s investment has lost, as the State Bank has taken over OceanBank at zero dong.

“All the wrongdoings in the investment deal, if they exist, need to be dealt with in accordance with the laws,” he said.

Dr. Nguyen Duc Kien, deputy chair of the National Assembly’s Economics Committee, said what is necessary now is to identify the source of the capital PetroVietnam used to contribute to OceanBank – whether it was from the state budget, borrowings or capital mobilized from different sources.

PetroVietnam, like many other state-owned conglomerates, rushed to invest in non-core business fields, especially in finance & banking, seven or eight years ago, because the business field was then considered a “goose that lays a golden egg”.

Later, when the big loss incurred by the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) was discovered, the government requested state-owned conglomerates to withdraw their investment capital in non-core business fields to gather their strength in their major businesses.

In October 2014, Le Minh Hong, deputy general director of PetroVietnam, told the press that the oil and gas group planned to take back VND5 trillion worth of investment capital after disinvesting in Ocean Bank and PVcomBank.

Kim Chi