Subordinates blame defendant Trinh Xuan Thanh

On the morning of January 14, in the defense, the defendant Hoa (former director of the Vung Ang Project Management Board, Quang Trach) said he voluntarily declared the amount of money suspected of embezzlement even before being questioned by the investigation agency."The defendant did not take it," said Mr. Hoa.

Mr. Hoa said that at yesterday's trial, defendant Trinh Xuan Thanh (former chairman of PVC's board of directors) intended to accuse him. Therefore, today, with the participation of both families, Mr. Hoa asked his former boss "not to accuse the defendant or anyone else when defending".

"During all this time, have you ever thought about why so many people had to stand in court?", Mr. Hoa said about Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh.

Two subordinates protected by PVN boss

Former Deputy General Director of PVN Nguyen Xuan Son speaks about responsibility in the casebelongs entirely to the project management board, not to the leadership of PVN Group. PVC's misuse of capital has never been reported to him."If I knew it was wrong, I would never have done it," said Mr. Son.

"The defendant thought that he worked with a spirit of enthusiasm and responsibility, not leaving today's work for tomorrow, and was enthusiastic about the goals not only of the Group but also of ensuring the country's fuel security. The defendant himself almost died at his desk due to a stroke while working. Many PVN officials also worked with the same spirit," Mr. Son stated.

Assuming that one mistake leads to another, leading to capital being misusedMr. Son said he was "not satisfied" with the way the case calculated damages because it applied "usury interest rates". According to him, if the interest rate was calculated, the damage would only be about 15 billion VND, not 119 billion VND as the appraisal concluded. He suggested a reasonable calculation that was true to the nature of the problem.

Mr. Son asked the court to consider the responsibility of Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Quy (former Vice Chairman of PVC Board of Directors) because he only followed his instructions. "It is heartbreaking for a gentle person who mainly works for the organization to be in trouble with the law," said Mr. Son..

* Defendant Son "asked" for a reduced sentence for defendant Quy

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Son asked for his colleague

Like former PVN deputy general director, former PVN chief accountant Ninh Van Quynh, in his self-defense, spent time requesting to consider and reduce the sentence to the lowest level for Mr. Le Dinh Mau (former deputy head of PVN's accounting and auditing department). "The times of providing money, Mr. Mau only did it under the defendant's authorization, like "taking it out of the warehouse" but Mr. Mau did not know."

Mr. Quynh also stated that his alleged violations in this case were due to "following instructions from superiors".Mr. Quynh also did not agree with the proposal to return the case file for further investigation as his lawyer had previously stated.

Bị cáo Phạm Tiến Đạt (cựu kế toán trưởng PVC) khi đến lượt trình bày đã bật khóc, không thể nói thành lời. Sau vài câu tự bào chữa, bị cáo đề nghị tòa xem xét trách nhiệm cho bị cáo Quý vì ông này không biết về tài chính kế toán.

Các sếp PVN không nhận đã làm sai

* Cựu phó tổng giám đốc PVN Nguyễn Quốc Khánh tự bào chữa

Ông Nguyễn Quốc Khánh tự nhận đã thành khẩn

Cựu phó tổng giám đốc PVN Nguyễn Quốc Khánh tự bào chữa rằng trong quá trình điều tra bị cáo hết sức thành khẩn, khai báo; tự giao nộp hàng trăm trang tài liệu giúp cơ quan điều tra nhanh chóng kết thúc vụ án. Ông đã thành khẩn nhận trách nhiệm dù sai phạm do cấp dưới gây ra, khắc phục 2 tỷ đồng "cho lương tâm thanh thản".

"Đây là bài học cho những người khác khi thực hiện công việc phải luôn luôn đúng quy định của pháp luật. Bị cáo mong muốn HĐXX xem xét và dành cho bị cáo sự khoan hồng, độ lượng giúp bị cáo có cơ hội làm lại cuộc đời", ông Khánh nói.

"Xin tòa 15 phút", cựu tổng giám đốc PVN Phùng Đình Thực nói làm tổng giám đốc trong hai năm (7/2009-9/2011), đúng lúc triển khai dự án Nhà máy nhiệt điện Thái Bình 2 và ông làm việc với nguyên tắc công khai, minh bạch.

Ông Thực thanh minh không chỉ đạo PVC và PVPower ký hợp đồng 33, vì thế không "cố ý làm trái" như quy kết của VKS. Việc hai công ty con trên ký hợp đồng 33 là thực hiện theo nghị quyết của HĐTV, đúng quy định pháp luật. Do khối lượng công việc lớn, năm 2011 có trên 48.000 văn bản, HĐTV kết luận nhiều nội dung nhưng "chắc chắn không có một ai nói hợp đồng 33 không có giá trị pháp lý". Nếu có, ông sẽ chỉ đạo rà soát ngay.

Trong giai đoạn này có việc PVPower và PVN ký chuyển đổi chủ đầu tư, ông đã chỉ đạo phó tổng giám đốc Nguyễn Quốc Khánh ký. Sau đó, các phó tổng giám đốc điều hành tiếp tục triển khai. "Vì vậy, bị cáo không cố ý làm trái trong việc chỉ đạo PVC và PVPower ký hợp đồng 33 trái luật", ông trình bày và chỉ nhận đã thiếu sát sao.

Regarding the advance payment of capital to the PVC general contractor in four times with the amount of 6.6 million USD and 1,300 billion VND, Mr. Thuc said that new evidence showed that he did not sign the capital allocation decision. Of these four times, he only wrote a note once to resolve the matter according to the contract's regulations. "Thus, the defendant did not direct the capital allocation, but only wrote a note once but it was not implemented according to the instructions. The prosecutor's accusation that the defendant directed the capital allocation and advance payment against the regulations is baseless," the former PVC general director defended himself.

Mr. Thuc said he always works impartially, objectively, without personal gain, without favoring anyone. In this case, he did not discuss with his superiors, did not direct his subordinates. When he learned of any violations, he directed them to be corrected immediately. In 2011, knowing that there was a report that had been signed to terminate contract 33; knowing that the money had been misused, he also directed the consequences to be remedied and the money to be recovered.

"At the investigation agency, the defendant was always assessed as sincere, but when he presented new evidence in court, the prosecutor assessed him as lacking sincerity," he said.

Mr. Thuc admitted that he led PVN to develop well, increase profits, contribute more than 60,000 billion VND to the budget each year, and protect national sovereignty at sea. He has made outstanding contributions to scientific works, and has been awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Science and Technology twice.

"After nearly 40 years of hard work, carefulness, and responsibility, the defendant always kept in mind that he did the right thing. Now being proposed a 13-year prison sentence is too harsh. The defendant requests a comprehensive review, clarification of the nature of the case, individualization of behavior and responsibility, and consideration of reason and reason," the former general director of PVN stated, adding that more than 16,000 oil and gas workers are following this case.

The panel of judges will not be in session this afternoon. Tomorrow, the court will continue its 8th working day in a series of 13 days.