The Director of the Nghe An CDC provided information regarding the purchase of biological products from Viet A Company.
(Baonghean.vn) - Since the beginning of the outbreak, the Nghe An CDC has purchased biological products, supplies, and chemicals worth 60 billion VND to serve the fight against the epidemic. Of this amount, supplies and biological products from Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company account for the majority, approximately 28 billion VND.
On December 20th, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Director of the Nghe An Provincial Center for Disease Control (CDC Nghe An), stated that, to date, the unit has not received any information from the Ministry of Public Security regarding cooperation in the investigation related to the inflated pricing of equipment at Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company.
Meanwhile, according to a December 18th news report from the Ministry of Public Security, in connection with this case, the Police Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security conducted urgent searches at 16 locations in 8 localities, including Nghe An. According to Mr. Dinh, this information has led some public opinion to mistakenly believe that Nghe An also committed violations and was therefore subjected to searches and investigations.
“After reading the news, we were also surprised. However, after checking, we learned that the location that was searched was a hotel in Vinh City. Accordingly, an employee of Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company was arrested while staying there. It is not related to the Nghe An CDC purchasing supplies and biological products from this company,” Mr. Dinh said.
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| Covid-19 testing in Nghe An. (Photo: Archival image) |
The Director of the Nghe An CDC stated that, like 62 other provinces and cities, Nghe An has purchased supplies and biological products from Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company. Accordingly, since the beginning of the outbreak, the Nghe An CDC has purchased biological products, supplies, and chemicals worth 60 billion VND to support epidemic control efforts. Of this amount, supplies and biological products from Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company account for the majority, approximately 28 billion VND, while the remaining 32 billion VND was purchased from other suppliers.
The supplies and reagents that the Nghe An CDC purchased from Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company were divided into four bidding packages. Of these, two packages were subject to open bidding, and two were awarded through direct negotiation, totaling over 18.5 billion VND. According to Mr. Dinh, the first direct negotiation package, purchased on July 15th, cost 470,000 VND per test kit, with a total value of over 5 billion VND. The remaining direct negotiation package, purchased on October 31st, cost 367,500 VND, with a total value of over 13 billion VND.
"At the time of the final bidding process, while many other provinces were still buying PCR test kits from this company at 470,000 VND/kit, the Nghe An CDC was able to purchase them for only 367,500 VND," Mr. Dinh said, adding that the procurement process of supplies and reagents by Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company, as well as other companies, followed the correct procedures and processes.
Similarly, Mr. Tran Minh Tue, Deputy Director of the Nghe An Department of Health, stated that the procurement of supplies and biological products from Viet A Technology Joint Stock Company by the Nghe An CDC was conducted in accordance with regulations and procedures.
Previously, on December 18th, the Investigation Police Department (C03, Ministry of Public Security) announced that it had initiated legal proceedings against Mr. Viet and several subordinates, including Ho Thi Thanh Thao (treasurer and store manager of Au Lac), Phan Ton Noel Thao (financial assistant), and Tran Thi Hong (sales employee), to clarify their actions of violating bidding regulations causing serious consequences.
Under the same charges, C03 prosecuted Mr. Pham Duy Tuyen (Director of the Hai Duong Center for Disease Control - CDC of Hai Duong province) and Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong (former chief accountant of CDC of Hai Duong). Mr. Tuyen had previously been temporarily suspended from his duties by the Hai Duong Department of Health to facilitate the investigation.
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| Suspect Phan Quoc Viet. Photo: Ministry of Public Security |
According to initial investigations, taking advantage of the urgent need for Covid-19 testing, a product eligible for simplified bidding procedures, Viet proactively supplied medical equipment, supplies, and biological products to hospitals and CDCs in provinces and cities. Viet then colluded with CDC leaders to legitimize the bidding process by using legal entities within the system to create product quotation documents, falsely confirming prices significantly higher than the actual production cost, authorities allege.
To secure advance supplies of medical equipment and materials, and to sell in large quantities at prices proposed by Viet A Company, Viet also negotiated large sums of money for the leaders of the purchasing units. To gain illicit profits and disburse funds outside the contract, Viet and other Viet A Company employees inflated the prices of equipment and input materials, setting the selling price at 470,000 VND per kit.C03 stated that it has clarified the irregularities in the sale of Covid-19 testing kits by Viet A Company to the Hai Duong CDC through 5 contracts with a total value of 151 billion VND. Viet also paid a percentage of the contract amount to the Director of the Hai Duong CDC, totaling nearly 30 billion VND.
