The Prime Minister has appointed the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade as the Electricity of Vietnam Group's chairman from September 14.
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| MoIT Deputy Minister is appointed as EVN's chairman |
The transition was discussed at the press conference on July 31. Hoang Quoc Vuong resigned from being Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade to take over the new position.
Chairman of the Government Office Vu Duc Dam affirmed the move was an important decision for the whole sector. He further said the transition from government officer to a chairman was not an abnormal move.
The former MoIT Deputy Minister had responsibility to manage the electricity sector, the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam, Agency for Industrial Promotion and the Agency for Industrial Safety Techniques and Environment. He and the Minister of Industry and Trade have been directly responsible for managing the EVN group.
Hoang Quoc Vuong is set to replace former EVN Chairman Dao Van Hung, who was dismissed in early 2012 due to weak management and losses from various core and non-core investments, especially its member EVN Telecom.
According to EVN, their losses were caused by changes in foreign exchange rate rates, accounting for as of December 31, 2011 losses of VND26 trillion (USD1.3 billion) which were supposed to be used for investment for the 2012-2015 period. In 2010, EVN lost VND11 trillion in electricity generation, however non-core businesses reduced the losses to VND8 trillion.
Last year, Hoang Quoc Vuong said the electricity prices would gradually rise to cover the losses.
