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Petrolimex calls for inspection into petrol theft
Following reports from local media that one of its subsidiaries in Ho Chi Minh City is engaging in petrol theft, Petrolimex has called on the police to inspect and initiate prosecution when possible, its executives said Tuesday.
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| A man pumping an unknown liquid into the tank to make up for the stolen amount of petrol. |
Deputy CEO Vuong Thai Dung affirmed that the state-run fuel wholesaler knows that the subsidiary, which had its employees steal the petrol en route from the base depot to fuel dealers, is the Petroleum Mechanical Stock Co (PMSC).
Petrolimex conducted checks into the company, and the employees that have stolen the fuel will receive the steepest fine of being sacked, Dung told newswire VnExpress.
“Petrolimex has also demanded the authorities to prosecute this case,” he was quoted by the newswire as saying.
Dung admitted the petrol theft, but added that whether or not the petrol was mixed with other substances after being stolen can only be verified after the authorities’ inspection.
Previously, many fuel tank trucks were caught stopping by certain “secret stations,” which are on the abandoned areas of Hoang Quoc Viet, Dao Tri, and Huynh Tan Phat streets in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7, on their routes to transport the petrol from the Nha Be Base Depot to filling stations in the city, according to Thanh Nien newspaper.
A tanker truck with license plate 57K-8275 of PMSC was found stopping by the secret station on a daily basis, with each visit lasting no longer than 30 minutes.
In each of the thefts, the men from the truck collude with other men waiting at the abandoned area to cut open the seals on the fuel tanks, and steal around eight 50-liter cans of petrol, before replacing the stolen amount with an unidentified liquid, Thanh Nien reported.
One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel
Meanwhile, Petrolimex confirmed that not only petrol, but other fuel commodities of the company, have qualified quality, without being mixed with other substances.
Dung also admitted that Petrolimex failed to completely curb the petrol theft, despite strengthened monitoring on the employees in charge of transporting the fuel.
“We have dismissed many employees for stealing petrol, but none of them have been found to be mixing other chemicals into the petrol,” he said.
“The case of PMSC is like the one rotten apple that spoils the whole barrel.”
Meanwhile, Vo Van Quyen, deputy head of the Market Management Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the ministry ordered Petrolimex to conduct checks into other subsidiaries in regards to the petrol theft phenomenon.
“The ministry also demanded that police authorities take action on this issue, and prosecute the petrol thieves,” Quyen said.
“Those engaged in the petrol fraud cannot simply be penalized by dismissal.”
He also said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade ordered the Market Management Agency in the relevant localities to crackdown on the fuel vendors, who store and sell petrol in cans or bottles on the street, since this is illegal fuel trading.
“Consumers are advised not to buy from these vendors, since it will encourage the sale of poor-quality fuel,” he said
vietnamnet
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