Demotion over expensive drink
By Richard Fu |
April 26, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SINOPEC has demoted the general manager of its Guangdong branch, Lu Guangyu, after his excessive spending on alcohol sparked public uproar.
At Lu's request, the Guangdong company bought 1,176 bottles of drink worth 1.59 million yuan (US$243,604), out of line with company policy, in September last year, Sinopec said yesterday.
The company said it had also ordered Lu to pay back 131,100 yuan for alcohol that had already been drunk and fined him an unspecified sum.
The scandal surfaced on April 11 when photocopies of invoices for the drink were posted online. The post claimed the Guangdong branch's purchases included 50-year-old Kweichow Moutai and 1996 Chateau Lafite Rothschild.
Some of the Moutai, a Chinese spirit traditionally drunk at state banquets, cost almost 12,000 yuan a bottle.
News of the lavish spending spread quickly, triggering public anger and prompting Sinopec to send a team from its Beijing headquarters to the southern province to investigate.
The revelations also came at a time when the government had just raised fuel prices to record high levels, a move that benefited Sinopec, China's premier oil refiner, which had long been lobbying for higher prices to compensate for losses caused by the soaring price of crude oil.
Fu Chengyu, the newly appointed chairman of Sinopec, told a briefing in Beijing yesterday that the case had seriously harmed the company's image and he pledged to crack down on such spending.
Lu had resold some of the bottles in October, Sinopec said.
The Guangdong branch had earlier said the purchases had nothing to do with Lu personally but were part of the company's "normal operations."
Sinopec is the state parent of listed Sinopec Corp.
At Lu's request, the Guangdong company bought 1,176 bottles of drink worth 1.59 million yuan (US$243,604), out of line with company policy, in September last year, Sinopec said yesterday.
The company said it had also ordered Lu to pay back 131,100 yuan for alcohol that had already been drunk and fined him an unspecified sum.
The scandal surfaced on April 11 when photocopies of invoices for the drink were posted online. The post claimed the Guangdong branch's purchases included 50-year-old Kweichow Moutai and 1996 Chateau Lafite Rothschild.
Some of the Moutai, a Chinese spirit traditionally drunk at state banquets, cost almost 12,000 yuan a bottle.
News of the lavish spending spread quickly, triggering public anger and prompting Sinopec to send a team from its Beijing headquarters to the southern province to investigate.
The revelations also came at a time when the government had just raised fuel prices to record high levels, a move that benefited Sinopec, China's premier oil refiner, which had long been lobbying for higher prices to compensate for losses caused by the soaring price of crude oil.
Fu Chengyu, the newly appointed chairman of Sinopec, told a briefing in Beijing yesterday that the case had seriously harmed the company's image and he pledged to crack down on such spending.
Lu had resold some of the bottles in October, Sinopec said.
The Guangdong branch had earlier said the purchases had nothing to do with Lu personally but were part of the company's "normal operations."
Sinopec is the state parent of listed Sinopec Corp.
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