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Sinopec's huge spending on liquor exposed

By Zheng Jinran (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-04-14 13:20

Copies of invoices exposed online show that 1.68 million yuan ($250,000) had been spent on luxury wines in one week in 2010 by a branch company of Sinopec Group in Guangdong province, and 93.8 percent of netizens surveyed on sina.com.cn believe that the alcohol was for personal use at public expense.

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A netizen claiming to be an insider posted four copies on tianyaclub.com, a popular BBS, on April 11, saying the author was angry about the large sum spent on luxury wines. The copies show the branch bought 480 bottles of Moutai liquor, known as the national liquor at the time, for a price of 958,320 yuan, on Sept 3, 2010. A week later, it bought another batch, including 12 bottles of Lafite 1996, valued at about 540,000 yuan.

Officials at the branch company in Guangdong sent an announcement in response to this issue, saying, "The company has noticed this post and set up an investigation team. We will announce the results to the public soon and punish anyone involved according to regulations."

But about 89 percent of 7,553 voters online still held a negative opinion, saying that this investigation will go nowhere and nobody would be punished.