Petrochemical and Textile Fibre Joint Stock Company (PVTex) - one of 12 loss-making projects scrutinised by the Government - will resume operation next month (Photo: cafef.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - The Governmentwill not use public funds to rescue 12 loss-making projects under thejurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Deputy PrimeMinister Vuong Dinh Hue said.
He told the ministry on February 26 that noadditional capital would be provided for these projects and that any furthermeasures to deal with them must be based on market principles. Those whichcould not be handled would be strictly punished.
“Thanks to the efforts from the VietnamNational Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and projects of the Vietnam NationalChemical Group (Vinachem), like DAP Dinh Vu, they’ve started to report profit. Viet-TrungSteel Company reported profit in 2017 after prolonged losses in years,” hesaid.
In addition, the deputy PM asked members ofthe steering committee to clarify difficulties and shortcomings in resolvingdisputes of engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) agreements withcontractors as well as financial issues in order to continue implementingprojects in 2018.
Hue said that it was still too early totake such positive results for granted and the challenges remain enormous, somuch more effort would be needed to achieve the goal of bringing aboutfundamental changes to these projects.
He urged the ministry to improveproductivity by applying technological innovations and slashing overcapacity.
According to the MoIT’s Deputy Minister HoangQuoc Vuong, progress has been made in restructuring these big-ticket projectsand some have returned to profitability while some have significantly reducedtheir losses.
At the same time, a number of projects haveresumed operation after long periods of delay and suspension.
Bio-fuel plants of PetroVietnam resumedoperation and will have consumption products in March. Petrochemical andTextile Fibre Joint Stock Company (PVTex) will resume production at its fibreproduction factory next month as it signed a contract to sell fibre for localcompanies.
PetroVietnam’s general director Nguyen Vu TruongSon said it would take three to six months to resume all operations of PVTex.Currently, PVTex’s partners expected that the Government committed to ensuringtheir rights in the co-operation process, applying technical barriers forpolyester imports and ensuring a stable electricity source at Dinh VuIndustrial Zone.
Deputy Minister Vuong said Dung Quat ShipyardCompany (DQS) was hiring a unit to implement an audit of its EPC contracts. DQShas been liquidating its unnecessary assets.
He said Vinachem’s DAP Dinh Vu Plant hadprofits of VNĐ16 billion in 2017 and 66 billion VND in the first two months ofthe year.
The plant reported profit after prolongedlosses thanks to enhanced administration and reduced production costs.
Vinachem’s three plants of DAP Lao Cai,Ninh Binh Fertiliser and Ha Bac Fertiliser have maintained production and hadhigher selling prices, reducing losses.
The Steel Corporation is building thedivestment plan at Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Corporation (TISCO) and seekingapproval from the MoIT. It is expected to divest capital from the company in2018.
At a National Assembly session in Decemberlast year, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said that the handlingof these 12 loss-making projects was on the right track and pledged to provideradical solutions to their problems by 2020.
February 27, the supervision team of theNational Assembly on implementation of policies and laws on using of Statecapital and assets at State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their privatisation in2011-16 had a meeting with the Government.
The team will supplement and complete thereport and submit it to the NA’s Standing Committee in April before issuing thesupervision resolution at the NA meeting in May.
Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said theequity scale at wholly State-owned firms had been increased.
The total State equity in 2016 rose by 92 percentto 1.39 quadrillion VND while the total assets rose by 46 percent to 3.05quadrillion VND from 2011.
However, the production effectiveness ofSOEs has been low due to the world economic crisis in 2011-13 period. In2014-15 period, the SOEs fared better. However, by the end of 2016, there werestill SOEs with losses.
Ministries, sectors and SOEs paid attentionto sell shares for strategic investors after privatisation. Administrationafter privatisation has been improved, promoting the development of the stockmarket and production effectiveness.
Results of 350 SOEs after privatisation in2015 showed that their average pre-tax profit rose by 49 percent, State budgetcontribution 27 percent, charter capital 72 percent, revenue 29 percent andincome per capita 33 percent. - VNA
VNA
