HANOI: Vietnam Communist Party’s Central Committee has accepted the resignation of Politburo member Tran Tuan Anh amid a probe into violations at the trade ministry under his watch.
The decision, announced in a statement on a government website, was made after the party’s Central Inspection Commission early this month asked the Politburo to consider punishment for Anh, who served as trade minister between 2016 and 2021.
The party’s Central Inspection Commission called for punishment after a probe into activities of the trade ministry under his watch showed "serious violations” in planning and regulating the solar and wind sector.
His decisions potentially carried huge costs to the state, according to statements on the government website. Violations were also found in managing gasoline and oil supply as well as in the use of the nation’s petroleum price stabilisation fund.
Vietnam had been widening a probe into alleged corruption among officials connected to the energy sector as the South-East Asian country seeks to gain control over a worsening power crisis, according to officials with knowledge of the matter.
An investigation that has ensnared senior trade officials in recent weeks over accusations of bribery, poor oversight and other abuses of power is set to be extended to the alleged mishandling of the nation’s nearly US$300 million petroleum price stabilisation fund, according to two people familiar with the situation.
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