Eight Myanmar companies blacklisted as cooking oil prices soar

The junta-controlled Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration (DICA)—Myanmar’s business registrar—announced on Monday that eight firms had been blacklisted for alleged malfeasance in importing palm oil. Ayeyar Hinthar Holdings, a company founded by prominent businessman Zaw Win Shein, was among the businesses on the blacklist, which also included Six Winner Brothers, Diamond Dragon, First Top Edible Oil, Thein Than Yadanar, Jewel Arrow, Agri One Trading, and Grand Unity. In addition to owning and founding the Ayeyar Hinthar conglomerate, Zaw Win Shein is also known for chairing A Bank and acquiring the telecoms company Ooredoo-Myanmar. DICA claimed that the blacklisted companies had failed to comply with the Myanmar Companies Act, but it remains unclear what violations the businesses committed and what penalties they may face. The business registry’s announcement underscored that companies incorporated using its online registration system must adhere to the provisions of the Myanmar Companies Act as well as other applicable laws and regulations. The blacklisting comes at a time of rapidly rising prices for cooking oils and other staples in Myanmar. The military regime has imposed price controls and acted to limit imports—including palm oil imports—to avoid depleting Myanmar’s foreign currency reserves. The regime has set the wholesale price for one viss (1.68 kilograms) of palm oil at 5,400 kyat (US $1.66) but the market price is closer to 12,000 kyat (US $3.70). Myanmar’s economy, which has contracted sharply and recovered slowly in the three years since the military coup, has also suffered from a high inflation rate. The generals of the military junta have often blamed rising commodity prices on the “greed” of business owners, even detaining and investigating some for alleged market manipulation. Most recently, military authorities arrested executives at rice businesses and the owners of food warehouses at the Bayinnaung storage centre on suspicion of charging more than the maximum price set for rice.

Eight Myanmar companies blacklisted as cooking oil prices soar

The junta has targeted eight companies, including prominent tycoon Zaw Win Shein’s Ayeyar Hinthar Holdings, for alleged improper practices in the import of palm oil

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