The government’s equitization program has seen companies making profits and with sound assets falling into investors’ hands while taxpayers’ money is still used to run unprofitable ones for which there are no takers.
Private investors are especially interested in companies with large property holdings, and they snap up the government’s stakes in these firms.
For instance, the government held a 51.35 percent stake in Tanimex, a part-owner of the Tan Binh Industrial Park. But the figure has dropped to 19.26 percent this year though no auction was held for divesting the State’s stakes.
In Can Gio Pharmaceutical JS Company and Sai Gon Leather Garment JS Company, the government’s holdings used to be 29 percent and 51 percent, but are now at 1.32 percent and 34 percent.
On the other hand, the state has major holdings in joint stock companies that don’t generate profits.
There are many companies in which the stakes exceed 50 percent though there is no need for the government to have a controlling stake in them.
For instance, the state hoped to cut its stake in Sai Gon Plant Protection Company to 51 percent but ended up holding 59 percent because there were no takers.
For the surreptitious paring of government holdings in some good firms, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has pointed a finger at officials managing equity at these companies.
