HANOI, May 28 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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VIETNAM NEWS

-- Gasoline retailers must purchase the fuel from only one importer, a new decree issued by the Trade Ministry said.

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VIETNAM INVESTMENT REVIEW

-- German firms Siemens Project Ventures and Hochitief Airport have expressed interest in investing $7 billion in Long Thanh Airport near Ho Chi Minh City, but Vietnamese officials said the companies must wait until a master plan for the airport was completed.

-- Vietnam will no longer suffer from power shortage from 2009 due to heavy investment in the sector, Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hung Phuc told foreign investors at a conference in Hanoi.

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QUAN DOI NHAN DAN

-- Somalian kidnappers have asked for a ransom of $700,000 for the release of 24 sailors, including three Vietnamese, on a South Korean fishing vessel.

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TUOI TRE

-- Police busted five illegal casinos in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern city of Vung Tau, siezing millions of dollars and detaining 217 people, including nine foreigners, and 81 Vietnamese gamblers.

-- Vietnam aims to plant 20,000 hectares (49,420 acres) of cocoa by 2010, half of it expected to produce 10,000 tonnes of cocoa, Nguyen Van Hoa, deputy head of the Agriculture Ministry's Cultivation Department said.

Vietnan now has 7,320 hectares of cocoa under plantation with an output of more than 1,100 tonnes.

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THANH NIEN

-- Vietnam will be ready to host the world's Buddhist Congress next year, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said in a message sent to this year's congress being held in Bangkok.

-- Bird flu has killed 248 chickens and ducks in the northern province of Ninh Binh, taking to nine the areas in Vietnam which have reported the return of the virus, the Animal Health Department said.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- Vietnam's donors will convene on June 1-2 in the northern province of Quang Ninh to review the fight against corruption, the effectiveness of aid and the process of harmonising procedures for aid reception and usage.

-- Tobacco and smoking cause losses of 8.2 trillion dong ($509 million) annually to Vietnam, where 56.1 percent of men smoke and 40,000 people die from smoking-related diseases each year, the Health Ministry said.

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