Mr. Dinh La Thang confessed to receiving instructions on contributing 800 billion VND in capital.

13:40 March 19, tAccused of allowing PVN to contribute 800 billion VND to OceanBank without the consent of the Board of Directors, Mr. Dinh La Thang (former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oil and Gas Group - PVN) stated:Before signing, there was no regulation requiring the Chairman of the Board of Directors to report to the Board of Directors, so it cannot be said that he "exceeded his authority" as the accusation stated.

Stating the history of the "handshake" with OceanBank, Mr. Thang said:Haveagreed with Mr. Ha Van Tham (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oceanbank) to let OceanBank receive all personnel of the project to establish Hong Viet Bank (bank for the oil and gas industry).

This agreement was based on the presentation of the General Director of PVN and the financial report of Mr. Nguyen Xuan Son (Deputy General Director of PVN) at that time. The capital contribution policy had been discussed for many months and was agreed by PVN leaders.

When the court presented the report of former deputy general director Nguyen Ngoc Su on the poor performance of OceanBank, Mr. Thang said he "knew" but judged that because OceanBank was like that,PVN has the opportunity to contribute capital.

Mr. Thang confidently declared that with the strategic cooperation of PVN, OceanBank's liquidity will increase. "VPVN's capital contribution is like 'marrying off a beautiful girl. If a beautiful girl is not married, it is of course different from a beautiful girl who is married', Mr. Thang compared and said that the capital contribution is "completely reasonable".

"The premise of the capital contribution is the Prime Minister's consent," Mr. Thang declared, adding that he "remembered receiving instructions." Immediately after that, the chairman asked him to explain why he made the decision.Resolution on initial capital contribution without the Prime Minister's opinion? Mr. Thang replied: There is no document that requires reporting to the Prime Minister before issuing a resolution. As for subsequent money transfer decisions, all have the Prime Minister's consent.

Regarding the Ministry of Finance's reminder letter, Mr. Thang said that the document did not express the agency's opinion on whether it agreed or not, but only said that it was waiting for the Prime Minister's opinion. Mr. Thang also affirmed that PVN had reviewed its financial situation but did not report it because "it was not requested".

In response to a few questions, Mr. Thang said the incident happened more than 10 years ago so he could not remember everything, but he insisted that he "followed the Party's instructions and had the Prime Minister's consent."

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Son: Oceanbank is doing well.

Defendant Nguyen Xuan Son stated that he was Deputy General Director of PVN at the end of 2010 and signed two documents on capital contribution. For the third capital contribution, PVN did not ask for the Prime Minister's opinion because the previous two had been approved and the amount of money in the third was also less.

Mr. Son said that OceanBank's business is good and profitable, which is the reason why PVN contributed an additional 100 billion VND for the third time. This brings PVN's total capital at OceanBank to 800 billion VND, accounting for 20% of the bank's charter capital.

When the court asked if the 20% rate was wrong when according to law it should not exceed 15%, Mr. Son explained in a roundabout way, saying that it was allowed by the Government.

"When signing the document, the defendant did not think that the Law on Credit Institutions (which had just come into effect) would stipulate a maximum capital contribution of 15%," Mr. Son said, adding that it was a transitional time, so he may not have had a complete understanding of the law.

Although he did not deny the accusation, Mr. Son repeatedly asserted that he "did not violate" the indictment. "PVN contributed capital while OceanBank was doing business effectively, as shown by the fact that it received dividends twice a year. I hope the panel of judges will consider the defendants' intentional violations with reason," Mr. Son said.

According to the accusation, Mr. Thang decided to contribute 800 billion VND of PVN's capital while knowing clearly the weak capacity of OceanBank; signed and issued Resolutions to implement capital contributions and additional capital contributions without the Prime Minister's consent. He also did not comply with the Ministry of Finance's request to ensure the conditions for capital contribution. As a result, 800 billion VND of PVN was lost when OceanBank suffered business losses, lost equity capital and the State Bank had to buy it back at 0 VND.

The prosecution agency concluded that Mr. Thang was the one who decided on the policy and directed the implementation. As the head of PVN, he was responsible for preserving PVN's capital, so he was primarily responsible for the loss of 800 billion VND contributed to OceanBank.