Vietnam cracks down on filling stations caught hoarding fuel

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) confirmed that several filling stations in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Hue and Dak Lak have been shutdown and are under investigation for hoarding fuel. The MoIT said that it will work with the Ministry of Finance to revise current fuel trading regulations including prices, transport costs and commissions to prevent this in the future. Meanwhile, Vo Van Quyen, head of the Domestic Market Agency, confirmed speculations that several fuel stations have demanded that they be allowed to stop selling or cut their selling hours. “It is true that many stations no longer want to sell their products,” Quyen said. “But it is unlikely that the phenomenon will expand into as large a scale as last year,” he added. Do Thanh Lam, deputy head of the Market Management Agency, said that they will crackdown on establishments that have limited or stopped selling fuel, adding that penalties for such actions will soon be announced. (March 6, 2012)