Hanoi (VNA) -Proceeds from the sale of State capital at Saigon Beer-Alcohol-BeverageCorporation (Sabeco) and other State-owned enterprises will be used for theright purposes as approved by the National Assembly.

This statement was made by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) at a press conferenceon the equitisation of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) on December 25.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade offloaded over 343.6 million shares, or a53.6-percent stake in Sabeco, for almost 110 trillion VND (4.8 billion USD) onDecember 18. However, concern remained over what the Government will do withthese proceeds.

Dang Quyet Tien, Director of the MoF’s Corporate Finance, said all proceedsfrom the sale of State capital at Sabeco and other SOEs will be transferred toan account held by the ministry at the State Treasury.
This money will be audited by the State Audit to “ensure its proper use”, Tiensaid.

According to the National Assembly’s instructions, proceeds from State capitaldivestments will be spent on development investment and social security (suchas education and health).

During the period 2016-20, the National Assembly has planned to collect 250trillion VND from divestments. The targets for 2017 and 2018 are 60 trillionVND and 65 trillion VND, respectively.

The Government has earned about 120 trillion VND from the sale of capital atSabeco and Vinamilk this year. On December 28, investors who purchased Sabecoshares will complete the payment.

In 2018, the State’s divestment portfolio includes big names such as Hanoi BeerAlcohol and Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (Habeco), Vinamilk and othercompanies under the management of the State Capital Investment Corporation(SCIC) such as PV Oil and Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co Ltd.

The State’s remaining 36 percent stake at Sabeco will also be put on sale atthe proper time, Tien said.

Ten State-owned enterprises have made divestures from non-core business linesin 2017. Divestments from five sensitive industries (banking-finance,insurance, securities, real estate and investment funds) brought in 292 billionVND, a 60 percent premium over the book value of 182 billion VND.

In remaining sectors, the State has collected over 2.95 trillion VND from sharesales compared to a total book value of 1.8 trillion VND.
SCIC, the Government’s investment arm, has sold capital in 40 companies thisyear for nearly 21.64 trillion VND, a 11.4-fold premium over the total bookvalue of 1.9 trillion VND, including 11.3 trillion VND from Vinamilk’s sharesale in 2016 and nearly 9 trillion VND for another 3.33 percent of Vinamilk’scapital on November 10 this year.

Regarding equitisation, about 45 enterprises have been approved forequitisation as of December 20, with total actual value of almost 213.75trillion VND, a six-fold increase over the value of enterprises equitised in2016.

Value of State capital in these companies is 88.39 trillion VND, 3.5 times higherthan 2016’s value.-VNA