SOEs name new staff to top management posts  A number of changes in key personnel in some state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are not expected to affect the enterprises’ production and business, experts say. Tran Viet Thang, CEO of Vicem, the largest cement manufacturer, has been dismissed from his post. Bui Hong Minh, who was deputy CEO of Vicem, has taken the ‘hot seat’ left by Thang. The decisions were made after the Ministry of Construction’s Party Civil Affairs Committee held a meeting to discuss Vicem’s production & business situation. Dan Tri quoted its sources as reporting that Thang had been dismissed because of mistakes in the production & business management made by Vicem and Vicem’s subsidiaries during the time when Thang was in office. In March 2017, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a document requesting the construction ministry to clarify the information that Vicem was incurring a loss of trillions of dong because of management problems. Most recently, Habeco unexpectedly suspended Nguyen Hong Linh as CEO of the brewer. Ngo Que Lam, who was deputy CEO, was authorized to act as the new CEO on August 21. According to Tien Phong, Habeco’s management board had a closed-door meeting and released a resolution on Linh's suspension of his executive duties as CEO to focus on the divestment of state capital in Habeco, debt collection and settlement of the issues between Hanoi-Nghe An Brewery JSC and the Vietnam-Laos Economic Cooperation Corporation. A number of changes in key personnel in some state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are not expected to affect the enterprises’ production and business, experts say. Analysts noted that the managers of some SOEs have to leave their posts as their enterprises are gearing up for the equitization process. Dinh Trong Thinh from the Finance Academy commented that the strict supervision over the SOEs under equitization and control of questionable executives is a must. Thinh went on to say that many SOEs had loosened their management. Some individuals and groups of interest, exploiting loopholes in policy, put their relatives in posts which can determine the enterprises’ production and business performance. “The people exploit the positions of SOEs, and the resources and preferences given to enterprises to get benefits for their groups of interest,” Thinh commented. “Therefore, these are people who don’t want to accelerate the equitization process.” He believes that the move show the government’s strong determination to ‘purify SOEs’. The changes in the key personnel at the SOEs, which play important roles in the economy, are not expected to affect the enterprises’ production and business because SOEs are supervised by governing bodies. Some analysts have warned that the move could help some ‘big bosses’ in SOEs who have committed wrongdoings make a ‘soft landing’. On this issue, Thinh said that it is necessary to assess both the merits and the sins of these personnel. “I believe we are going in the right direction,” he said. Dat Viet