VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Industry and Trade on Monday refused to answer questions on the power price hike although local reporters insisted on making the related information transparent.

In response to the questions on power prices posed by reporters at the periodical press conference on Monday, the ministry’s representative merely said the matter had been answered already.

The fact that Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) suddenly announced to raise the average power price by 5% last Thursday just one day after the ministry had released Circular 19 governing power retail prices is still a controversial issue. The problem captures great attention from the local business community.

In the power price hike announcement last Thursday, EVN said the price adjustment this time is to partially offset rising electricity generation costs due to higher coal and gas prices as the only reason behind the unexpected movement. Specially, coal prices were pushed up by 37-41% from April 20 this year, the group said.

Plenty of questions relating to the power price increase have not yet been answered satisfactorily, including the six-month business and production situation of EVN, the group’s financial balances and the collection of public comments before the price adjustment.

According to prevalent law on legal document issuance, new documents will take effect 45 days after the announcement date, which should also apply to Circular 19 allowing EVN to adjust power prices. The immediate application of such regulations is only allowed in urgent cases such as natural disasters and epidemics fighting.

Therefore, whether electricity is subject to the special treatment so that EVN had the right to adjust power prices just one day after the circular signing by the ministry remains questionable to local media.

Regarding the ministry’s feedbacks to clarify matters around the power price adjustment as sought by reporters, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa briefly replied: “No more answers about power prices as they have been answered many times.”

Thoa argued that Minister-Chairman Vu Duc Dam of the Government Office had said about power prices at the periodical meeting a week ago and that Dang Huy Cuong, director of the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam under the ministry had replied the same thing on the Vietnam Television Station (VTV). Similarly, EVN deputy general director Dinh Quang Tri had mentioned power prices on VTV last Saturday and Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang had also done so in the “Citizens Ask, Ministers Answer” program of VTV released on Sunday, she added.

Source: SGT