The identities of the three major oil and gas companies recently fined have been revealed.

This entity was fined 85 million VND for administrative violations and had its license to import and export petroleum products revoked for 45 days (March 6 - April 21).

Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company was established in 2001, engaging in diversified business activities both domestically and internationally, with its main pillars being petroleum, liquefied petroleum gas, paper manufacturing, packaging, logistics, and transportation.

The company is legally represented by Ms. Chu Thi Thanh, mother of Mr. Chu Dang Khoa (famous for his nickname "diamond tycoon").

As of September 2023, this company had a registered capital of over 2,000 billion VND. Of this, Ms. Chu Thi Thanh held 77.15%; Mr. Chu Dang Khoa owned 22.77%; and another individual held 0.08%.

In the Government Inspectorate 's inspection report on petroleum products at the end of last year, Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company was found to have consistently made incorrect and incomplete initial and monthly declarations of environmental protection tax; failed to declare tax; and made dishonest declarations of the amount of environmental protection tax payable.

Despite owing money to the state budget, Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company still lent 7,485 billion VND to Mr. Chu Dang Khoa and Ms. Chu Thi Thanh (chairperson of Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company), which is inconsistent with legal regulations.

Furthermore, according to the inspection findings, Thien Minh Duc Group Joint Stock Company is also one of many key traders that misused the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund, failing to transfer funds to the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund and instead leaving them in the company's payment account.

What violations did Trung Linh Phat commit?

Trung Linh Phat Co., Ltd. also had its license revoked for a period of one month (June 19 - July 19) and was fined 245 million VND for failing to meet the conditions regarding the distribution system; not maintaining the mandatory reserve level or maintaining a level lower than the minimum; and committing fraud in the declaration and registration of the distribution system.

Trung Linh Phat Co., Ltd. is a 100% privately owned enterprise operating in the business of trading, wholesaling, and retailing petroleum products and some other fields. The company was granted Certificate of Eligibility to be a Petroleum Distributor No. 188 on June 12, 2018, and Petroleum Export and Import Business License No. 49 on January 8, 2021, by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

On its website, the company presents itself as operating in multiple sectors: petroleum trading, transportation, restaurant and hotel business, tourism and resort services , and import/export.

Previously, this company was also fined for failing to transfer the balance of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund to its bank deposit account. In March, the Ministry of Industry and Trade requested the company to repay more than 26 billion VND in debt to the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund from November 2023.

According to the conclusions of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's inspection of petroleum products, Trung Linh Phat Co., Ltd., despite being a key distributor, was also named in the list of enterprises importing diesel fuel below the import quota allocated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2021, as stated in Official Letter No. 8266 dated December 22, 2021.

This company also failed to submit registration adjustments to the Ministry of Industry and Trade when there were changes in the petroleum distribution system of the traders.

Meanwhile, Appollo Oil Joint Stock Company was fined 800 million VND. The company was fined 100 million VND for selling petroleum products to entities outside its distribution system and without registering a distribution network.

In addition, the regulatory agency expanded its investigation to 14 businesses that bought and sold petroleum products with Appollo Oil and discovered numerous violations, such as buying or selling petroleum products with entities outside the distribution system. As a result, the company was fined an additional 700 million VND.