A comprehensive inspection has been carried out by the government inspectorate to scrutinize the abnormal signs of the equitization, which is a Vietnamese euphemism for privatization, of a major port in the south-central province of Binh Dinh.

Under the direction of the Politburo and prime minister, the government inspectorate initiated its examination of the privatization of Quy Nhon Port, located in the namesake city in Binh Dinh, in April and is expected to announce the result within this year.

According to the case file, Quy Nhon Port belonged to Vinalines, a maritime corporation under the Ministry of Transport.

On February 4, 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh approved the privatization of the port, after which the state was expected to own 75 percent of the stakes.

However, the Binh Dinh People’s Committee submitted a petition two months later, proposing that the state only hold 49 percent of the port’s shares. The request was green-lighted by Deputy PM Ninh in May the same year.

In early 2014, the Binh Dinh administration asked whether the 49 percent of shares owned by the state could be sold to local businesses.

The proposition was eventually approved in September 2014, before Vinalines sold the state’s shares to Hop Thanh JSC in September 2015.

Following the deal, Hop Thanh owned 86.23 percent of the stakes at Quy Nhon Port.

Abnormal signs

A probe by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper revealed that during a meeting of Quy Nhon Port in May 2014, all delegates agreed that the state should keep its 49 percent shares at the port.

The port lies at a strategic location in terms of economic development and national defense, they believed.

“We did not agree to sell all of the port’s stakes to the private sector, but local authorities did not listen,” a former official of the Quy Nhon Port said.

Nguyen Huu Phuc, general director of the Quy Nhon Port JSC, even sent a document to Vinalines, asserting that it would be much more beneficial for the state to hold 49 percent of the shares.

To Tu Thanh, former secretary of the Binh Dinh Party Committee, stated it was abnormal for Quy Nhon Port to be sold to local businesses at only VND404 billion (US$17.3 million), while it is worth trillions of dong (VND1 trillion = $42.8 million).

Vu Hoang Ha, another ex-secretary of the provincial Party, pointed out that it was against regulations for the equitization to be carried out without bidding.

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