BIDV self-deducts debt from the Petroleum Stabilization Fund, what does the Ministry of Finance say?

At the regular press conference of the third quarter of 2023 of the Ministry of Finance, some contents on the management and maintenance of the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund at enterprises were clarified.

A notable content is the case of Hai Ha Waterway Transport Company Limited (Hai Ha Company) having its debt automatically deducted by the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) Long Bien branch of nearly 270 billion VND from the account of the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund.

Regarding this issue, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said that currently, regulations on the establishment, operation and management of the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund are fully in place. However, the recent management and use of the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund has raised the issue for the management agency, how to manage it strictly and transparently.

"The Ministry of Finance has assigned the Price Management Department to directly review and report to competent authorities on problems and issues arising in practice. In the coming time, the Ministry of Finance will contribute opinions on the management of the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund when amending Decree 95 on petroleum management," Deputy Minister Nguyen Duc Chi informed.

Finance - Banking - BIDV self-deducts debt from the Petroleum Stabilization Fund, what does the Ministry of Finance say? — Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi speaks at the press conference.

To clarify this issue, Mr. Pham Van Binh - Deputy Director of the Price Management Department said that according to current regulations, key traders of petroleum must set up a Price Stabilization Fund, pay and monitor separately in an account opened at a bank.

The main traders must be responsible for choosing which bank to manage, preserve the fund balance, and how to spend the fund. Currently, Hai Ha and other main traders have reported their accounts to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade for monitoring and inspection.

Regarding the debt collection of Hai Ha Company, the Ministry of Finance has sent an official dispatch requesting BIDV Bank Long Bien Branch to strictly comply with the provisions of Decree No. 95 of the Government.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance has sent a document to the State Bank informing about the incident, in order to coordinate implementation and send a document to BIDV bank on this issue.

"This is a special fund, and in the recent past, this fund has carried out specific related activities. On the part of the Ministry of Finance, in the past, it has regularly carried out inspection and supervision of expenditures, as well as compiled reports and grasped public information about the fund," Mr. Binh emphasized .

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