Official proposes public offering of shares in Petrolimex

An official from the Department of Industry and Trade of Vietnam’s northern province of Vinh Phuc has recently proposed equitization of 2,000 petroleum stations operated by state-owned Vietnam National Petroleum Corp. (Petrolimex) to ease monopoly in the sector, the Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper reported. Nguyen Thanh Toan made the proposal at a meeting between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade and state agencies on petrol price management on July 29 in Hanoi. Nguyen Thanh Toan said the move would foster healthy competition, as Petrolimex holds 60% of the Vietnamese petrol market. (July 31, 2009)