Restructuring and arranging a lean, strong apparatus at Petrovietnam

Restructuring and renewing the "oil and gas ship"

The period 2015-2020 can be said to be the most difficult for Petrovietnam in its history of more than 60 years of construction and development. Consecutive crises of severe oil price declines, especially the "double crisis" due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and low oil prices, along with difficulties and challenges in the fields of exploration, prospecting, investment... have dealt heavy blows to the entire operations of the Group; the thoughts and feelings of cadres, party members, and employees have been affected; the reputation, image, and brand of Petrovietnam have declined. All of these factors have created a great obstacle. That reality requires Petrovietnam to have a "reform" to create momentum, a new vitality to meet the new development requirements of the Oil and Gas industry.

Restructuring and reorganizing the apparatus helps Petrovietnam operate stably and effectively, achieving many positive results (Illustration photo)

Realizing this issue, implementing Resolution 12-NQ/TW of the 5th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee on continuing to restructure, innovate and improve the efficiency of State-owned enterprises; Resolution 18-NQ/TW of the 6th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee on "Some issues on continuing to innovate and reorganize the apparatus of the political system, streamlining, operating effectively and efficiently"; in order to effectively implement the goals set out in Resolution 41-NQ/TW of the Politburo on "Development strategy of Vietnam's oil and gas industry to 2025 and vision to 2035", immediately after completing the leadership of the Group, the work of restructuring and reorganizing the apparatus towards streamlining and efficiency has been resolutely implemented and received very high consensus.

The restructuring and rearrangement of the apparatus was carried out by Petrovietnam from the beginning of 2018 and after less than 1 year, the number of focal departments/offices in the Group's apparatus has been reduced by nearly half. Many officials have had to change their positions, or from high positions to low positions. However, there have been absolutely no negative internal problems, no prolonged complaints. That result is thanks to the participation of the entire political system in the Group. Everyone is clearly aware: Only building a streamlined and compact administrative apparatus can be effective in operation and that is essential for the Group to develop sustainably.

To consolidate and create a foundation for sustainable development, Petrovietnam also pays special attention to personnel work. In parallel with the restructuring of the Executive Board, the Group has resolutely arranged and assigned leadership personnel to the departments/offices in accordance with their capacity and experience according to the functions, tasks, and organizational structure of the specialized departments/offices. At the same time, the functions and tasks of the staff assisting the Party Committee, the Board of Members, and the Board of Directors have been reviewed and specified, initially overcoming the duplication and overlap in handling work. From there, one person can undertake many tasks, but one task is only chaired and primarily responsible by one organization, one person.

The work of mobilizing and rotating cadres has been carried out with attention, creating conditions for promising young cadres and cadres in the planning to be trained in practice and avoiding a closed situation in cadre work. The Group has actively mobilized and rotated young cadres in the planning from the Group to units for training and practical development and mobilized cadres with practical experience from grassroots units and from joint ventures with foreign countries to hold leadership positions in the Group's agencies and large corporations, especially in key projects.

The consensus and unanimity among the staff and party members helped the Group's reform achieve its set goals (Illustration photo)

The Group also pays attention to ideological work, the process of perfecting the staff in the process of restructuring and reorganizing the apparatus is carried out openly, transparently, democratically, in compliance with regulations and procedures. Thereby, creating unity and consensus among all staff, party members and employees. In addition, the work of restructuring and reorganizing the apparatus at Petrovietnam member units is implemented drastically and effectively.

It can be said that the restructuring and organization of the apparatus has created a new vitality and new spirit in all activities of the Group. The reduction of specialized departments/offices and the clear definition of functions, tasks and responsibilities of each individual and organization in the apparatus have initially overcome the situation of dependence, avoidance of responsibility, causing delays in handling work. Cadres, party members and employees expressed their trust, peace of mind in working, making efforts to overcome difficulties to join the Group's leadership and units in successfully implementing assigned goals and tasks.

"Sweet fruit" from "reforming" the apparatus

As mentioned, through restructuring and reorganizing the apparatus, especially the personnel work, the "oil and gas ship" after a period of slowness and inertia has been renewed, full of aspirations, strong fighting spirit, and high adaptability. The appointed, arranged, and rotated cadres have quickly gotten to work, leaving a positive mark in the management and operation of the enterprise. Not only are they highly appreciated for their professional capacity, they are also cadres full of aspirations, fighting spirit, "dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility" and especially have been tempered and matured through challenges in the oil and gas industry. With those good qualities, a new breath of life has been "breathed" into all activities of Petrovietnam. Each stage and link from the Group to its member units is operated stably and continuously with the spirit of "One team - One goal" to create a great united strength to bring the "oil and gas ship" with "growth aspirations" far and wide.

Thanks to that spirit and momentum, Petrovietnam has firmly and effectively responded to the "double crisis" caused by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and low oil prices in 2020. Petrovietnam is one of the few oil and gas corporations/companies in the world that is profitable, achieving positive profits of nearly 20 trillion VND, making an important contribution to the growth of the economy .

Vietsovpetro workers.

Continuing that achievement, on the path of growth recovery, with the motto of action " Managing fluctuations - Anticipating trends - Connecting resources - Promoting technology - Promoting investment - Sustainable development ", in 2022, Petrovietnam has set many new records in production and business. Specifically, the total revenue of the whole Group completed the whole year plan 4 months ahead of schedule, reaching 931.2 trillion VND, exceeding 67% of the year plan, up 48% compared to 2021 - setting a new record in the history of Petrovietnam, surpassing the record of 2012 when there were many favorable times in oil prices and production output. The whole Group's State budget payment completed the whole year plan 6 months ahead of schedule, in 2022 reaching 170.6 trillion VND, exceeding 2.64 times the year plan, up 52% ​​compared to 2021.

Not satisfied with what has been achieved, with the goal of making the most and highest contribution to the country, the growth target and high growth have been set by Petrovietnam. In 2023, with the motto " Managing fluctuations - Expanding scale - Accelerating digital transformation - Shifting models - Improving productivity - Regenerating business ", the Group continued to set new records in production and business. Total revenue of the Group in 2023 reached 942.8 trillion VND, exceeding 39% of the annual plan, 11.6 trillion VND higher than the record in 2022 (931.2 trillion VND), equivalent to 9.2% of the country's GDP. The Group's total contribution to the State budget reached VND 151.8 trillion, exceeding the 2023 plan by 94%, accounting for about 9% of the total State budget revenue in 2023. These positive results have significantly contributed to the recovery and socio-economic development of the country. In all situations, Petrovietnam always plays an important role in ensuring energy security; balancing the macro economy and participating in market stabilization; providing fuel for national defense and security, for the country's life and economy: meeting over 75% of the country's gasoline demand, meeting over 73% of the country's fertilizer demand, over 75% of the country's LPG market share and 20% of the domestic market share in the gasoline business. The Group spent VND 750 billion on social security in all regions of the country.

Firmly pursuing the growth target, with the motto of action " Managing fluctuations - Adding new motivation - Renewing old motivation - Creating new energy sources - Reaching new heights ", in the first 11 months of 2024, the basic production targets were completed and exceeded the annual plan. In particular, crude oil exploitation is expected to reach 9.77 million tons for the whole year, exceeding the annual plan by 19%; gas exploitation is expected to reach 6.43 billion m³, exceeding the annual plan by 26%; gasoline production (excluding NSRP) is expected to reach over 6.72 million tons for the whole year, exceeding the annual plan by 16%; nitrogenous fertilizer production is expected to reach 1.82 million tons for the whole year, exceeding the annual plan by 4%. With the goal of growth, the Group always strives for the following year's targets to be higher than the previous year. Up to now, the Group has fully completed 6/6 financial targets for the whole year 2024 according to the plan assigned by the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises and the Board of Members, reaching the target 3-5 months ahead of schedule; growing from 5-31% compared to 2023. In particular, Petrovietnam is aiming to reach 1 million billion VND in total revenue of the whole Group in 2024, setting a new record.

It is important to emphasize that, along with continuously setting new records in production and business, in recent years, Petrovietnam has also handled and resolved difficulties and problems in a number of key projects. That is, Petrovietnam has "revived" and put into operation the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant and the Song Hau 1 Thermal Power Plant; inaugurated the 1 million ton/year Thi Vai LNG port warehouse; accelerated the progress of the Nhon Trach 3 and 4 Thermal Power Plant projects... And especially, Petrovietnam has put the Lot B - O Mon Gas - Power Project Chain into implementation after many years of preparation.

Block B – O Mon gas – power project chain.

In the new context, facing practical demands for the Group's development, Petrovietnam has identified that innovating the organizational structure and restructuring the enterprise to be lean and compact, and improving labor productivity is an extremely necessary and urgent task that must be done immediately. This was affirmed by Comrade Le Manh Hung, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Petrovietnam at the meeting on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Industry's Traditional Day: "In order to be able to firmly step into the era of national development, Petrovietnam must shift its business model to suit the changes of the market, at the same time restructure the governance model, streamline the apparatus, optimize resources to improve productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency to serve the Group's development in the coming period".

In order to effectively implement the Party and State's policy on streamlining the apparatus, based on the spirit of Conclusion 76-KL/TW, the Project on Restructuring the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group to 2025, the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the Group has recently issued a specialized Resolution "On innovation of the organizational apparatus and restructuring of lean enterprises, improving labor productivity". And to carry out the second "reform" in the Group, the most important thing is to have consensus, clarity from top to bottom, and understanding among each cadre, party member, and employee of the Oil and Gas Group. Therefore, units, political and social organizations in the whole Group must propagate, mobilize, and fully disseminate the information and policies of the Group so that cadres, party members, and employees clearly understand and agree.

Promoting the tradition of over 63 years, with the spirit of “One team – One goal”, Petrovietnam will definitely successfully complete the goals of reorganizing, restructuring, streamlining the apparatus associated with improving labor productivity. This is also the strength that creates new momentum, bringing Petrovietnam into a new period, focusing on model transformation, energy transformation, to develop into a national Industrial – Energy Group.

Thanh Ngoc - Hien Anh

Source: https://www.pvn.vn/chuyen-muc/tap-doan/tin/cea74e8d-1c81-4e71-9113-d7660ef972a4