Prime Minister: Adjust electricity prices to suit the market, not jerkily

The Prime Minister noted that when considering adjusting electricity prices, agencies must be consistent with the market, not jerky or hasty.

The above information was stated by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a working session with 19 corporations and general companies under the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises on February 5.

In late January, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed increasing electricity prices this year to ease difficulties for EVN as the group still recorded a loss of VND17,000 billion last year and input costs for electricity production (coal, oil, gas) fluctuated.

At today's conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh reminded agencies to implement a roadmap to adjust electricity prices "in accordance with the market, not jerkily or hastily".

The mechanism for adjusting retail electricity prices is under Decision 24/2017, which stipulates a six-month period between price changes if input costs cause prices to increase by 3% or more. Last year, electricity prices increased by a total of 7.5%, after two adjustments in May and November.

With the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, if approved by competent authorities, the next price increase could be in May this year. This, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, is to reflect fluctuations in input costs and help EVN have resources to pay investors of power plants.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting with 19 corporations and groups on February 5. Photo: VGP — Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting with 19 corporations and groups on February 5. Photo: *VGP*

In addition to price management, the Prime Minister also reiterated the request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) not to let there be a power shortage in the coming time. He assigned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (TKV) to ensure enough oil, gas and coal for electricity production according to plan.

In addition to the power source plan, accelerating the construction and putting the 500 kV line 3, Quang Trach - Pho Noi section into operation in June this year will also contribute to ensuring sufficient electricity in 2024. It is estimated that when this line is in operation, it will increase the supply to the North by about 2,000 MW.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with 19 corporations and companies on February 5. Photo: VGP — Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with 19 corporations and companies on February 5. Photo: *VGP*

According to the report of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, last year the pre-tax profit of 19 corporations and general companies (excluding EVN) was about 53,256 billion VND. The total assets of the parent companies of the "big guys" reached nearly 1.62 million billion VND, with revenue of approximately 1.14 million billion VND.

Mr. Ho Sy Hung, Vice Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, said that many large infrastructure, energy, and transportation projects were completed by corporations last year, such as the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway; the Thi Vai LNG import port with a capacity of 1 million tons; component project 3 - Long Thanh airport phase 1... After many years of losses, some businesses have returned to profit, such as Vietnam Railways Corporation, or Vietnam Airlines, which reduced losses compared to the plan.

Acknowledging the efforts of corporations, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said there are still limitations that need to be overcome, such as the contribution of corporations to GDP growth not being commensurate with the resources they hold, and the efficiency of business investment is not high.

"Corporations and corporations need to restructure to develop, make profits in 2024 and contribute more to growth and the budget," the Prime Minister said.

He requested the Capital Management Committee to review and propose to competent authorities to amend regulations to remove legal obstacles for businesses in the fields of price, environment, land, etc. "The spirit is not to push, avoid, not to cause trouble, harassment, and to work with businesses to remove difficulties," the Prime Minister concluded.

Phuong Dung

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