Leaders of Vietnam chemical giant held responsible for violations at loss-making projects

Former and current officials at a Vietnamese chemical corporation are under review for a series of violations at various loss-making projects.

The Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem) has been operating four unsuccessful projects in provinces throughout the country, causing combined losses worth trillions of dong (VND1 trillion = US$44.1 million).

Following an inspection by the Central Inspection Committee, several Vinachem leaders, including company president Nguyen Anh Dung, former company president Do Quang Chieu, erstwhile chairman of the management board Nguyen Quoc Tuan, and former general director Do Duy Phi, were found responsible for myriad offenses.

According to a probe by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, the four Vinachem projects in question cost VND28 trillion ($1.23 billion) in capital investment.

Among them, the Ninh Binh Fertilizer Plant, located in the namesake northern Vietnamese province, took the heaviest hit, racking up some VND3.2 trillion ($141.2 million) in losses as of 2016.

Immense pressure from bank debt and a lackluster performance has resulted in ineffective operations at the factory, the Ministry of Industry and Trade assessed.

Only VND4 trillion ($176.5 million) of the more than VND11 trillion ($485.4 million) owed by the factory has been paid.

At the Ha Bac Fertilizer Factory in the northern province of Bac Giang, Ministry of Construction inspectors identified several violations in the implementation of the project, including an inaccurate calculation of the building cost, a lack of building permits, and the recruitment of incompetent officials.

Administrative fines of up to VND100 billion ($4.4 million) were imposed for the offenses.

The plant's losses of over VND1.7 trillion ($75 million) are being attributed to high construction cost, loss-making operational activities, and bad management.

Similarly, the DAP No.2 Lao Cai Fertilizer Plant in the northern province of Lao Cai has been recorded with VND420 billion ($18.5 million), while another factory in the northern city of Hai Phong has also accumulated over VND1 trillion ($44.1 million) in deficit.

The Central Inspection Committee has ordered Vinachem to deal with the problems by the end of September.