LookAtVietnam – National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong said he hoped the Vietnamese and Russian State audit agencies would foster their co-operation, mutual support and experience sharing for mutual benefit.

NA chairman Nguyen Phu Trong shakes hand with Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, S V Stepashin, in Ha Noi.

Trong praised the role of the State audit in ensuring State budget expenditure transparently and legally.

He stressed that the National Assembly would do its utmost to promote the traditional relations between the two countries.

For his part, Stepashin said the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation was willing to help train auditing officers for Viet Nam and work closely with its Vietnamese partner in multi-lateral forums.

He expressed his delights at the development of the two countries in general and of the two audit agencies in particular.

Joint audit

A joint audit of the Vietsovpetro joint venture has been completed by the State Audit of Viet Nam and the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, the two auditing agencies announced yesterday in Ha Noi.

A document certifying the joint audit result was signed by State Auditor Vuong Dinh Hue city and the chairman of the Russian Accounts Chamber, Sergey Vadimovich Stepashin.

The petroleum exploration and exploitation joint venture was a successful business model with a high competitive edge, said Hue. During the audit period of 2005-07, Vietsovpetro surpassed its targets, earning US$14 billion and posting profits of $4 billion.

However, the auditors also gave recommendations to help the joint venture boost its business efficiency in the future, including suggestions that it restructure its expenditure to reduce unnecessary production costs and finalise reorganisation of its management.

Auditors also urged the Government of Viet Nam and relevant ministries and agencies to resolve outstanding tax issues related to the joint venture, Hue said.

The audit results showed that the joint venture’s annual volume of crude oil exploitation had dropped from over 10 million tonnes in 2005 to 8.7 million tonnes in 2007, Stephashin said.

Stepashin proposed that Vietsovpetro step up the level of its oil and gas exploitation and seek to reduce indirect costs to ensure profitability amid the global economic crisis.

The audit was made pursuant to an agreement between the two agencies signed in November 2008.

“This is the first joint audit between the State Audit of Viet Nam and a foreign partner,” Hue said, adding that the successful outcome proved the effectiveness of the co-operation between the Vietnamese and Russian audit agencies.

Stepashin agreed, predicting that co-operation between his agency and the State Audit of Viet Nam would continue developing in the future. He said Russia was willing to assist in training audit staff for Viet Nam, particularly in information technology, international audit standards and professional ethics.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News