Hoang Trung Hai, former Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam between 2007 and 2016, had committed several violations in overseeing the expansion of state-owned steel company TISCO, the Party Central Inspection Committee, Vietnam’s top watchdog, said at a Wednesday meeting.

The committee suggested that the Politburo discipline Hai, now serving as Hanoi's Party Secretary and a member of the Politburo.

The standing Party Committee of the Vietnam Steel Corporation (VNSTEEL) was irresponsible and lacked supervision in its leadership, which led to the firm committing serious violations in a project to expand production by the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Joint Stock Company or TISCO (the TISCO II project), inspectors concluded last December.

The state currently owns nearly 94 percent of VNSTEEL, while VNSTEEL holds a 65 percent stake in TISCO.

The TISCO II project, approved in 2005, had a total capital of over VND3.8 trillion ($242 million). It had two main packages, one of them an EPC package regarding development of a metallurgy processing line.

The EPC package was auctioned to the China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) for over $160 million. However, the Government Inspectorate discovered in February that the project’s total capital had been illegally altered by TISCO, from over VND3.8 trillion to VND8.1 trillion.

Furthermore, at the time of discovery, TISCO had already paid MCC over 92 percent of the total value of the project, but the project was nowhere near completion. As of 2013, the EPC contractor MCC and contractors had stopped all construction activity.

Since then, some project equipment have been damaged, negatively affecting the project’s progress and quality, causing investment capital losses, inspectors said.

For violations regarding the project, the inspection committee has expelled Mai Van Tinh, former party chief and former board chairman of VNSTEEL, Dau Van Hung, its former deputy party chief and former general director, from the party.

Four former leaders of Thai Nguyen company were also expelled from the party.