EVN adds reason for trillion-dollar loss

09/27/2023 07:42 V. Hang Print article

ANTD.VN - According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nam - Deputy General Director of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), the cost of bringing electricity to remote areas can be up to about 7,000 VND/kWh, but EVN's average electricity price in all areas is maintained at about 1,900 VND/kWh. EVN is having to perform many tasks at the same time, so it has to suffer losses.

Ông Nguyễn Xuân Nam nói về số lỗ nghìn tỷ của EVN ảnh 1

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nam talks about EVN's trillion-dollar loss

Sharing at the discussion on State Capital Management at Enterprises: "Looking Back and Looking Forward" that just took place, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nam said that, with the responsibility of being a State economic group, EVN has been assigned many tasks and multi-objectives by the Party, Government and State; in which the highest task of EVN is to supply electricity to the country, serving socio-economic development and people's lives, including fulfilling social responsibility by maintaining stable retail electricity prices according to the direction of the Government.

For example, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nam said that for EVN to bring electricity to remote, border and island areas, the cost of electricity production is up to about 7,000 VND/kWh, but the price of electricity EVN sells to this area is currently still maintained at about 1,900 VND/kWh in accordance with the policies of the Party and State.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nam, as a state-owned enterprise, EVN's operations are not simply profit/loss operations, but also carry out social security tasks and are a tool for stabilizing the macro economy. Therefore, EVN's selling price is much lower than the cost of electricity production in remote, border, and island areas, etc., which is also a political task with the policy goal of "leaving no one behind".

In 2022, due to the impact of global instability, the prices of coal, gas, oil, etc. increased dramatically. For example, at one point, the price of coal increased 5 times, up to 400 USD/ton, the price of oil also doubled while the price of electricity accounted for 84% of the electricity price structure.

Therefore, the high price of coal and gas greatly affects the cost of electricity production, making it difficult for EVN to balance its finances. Entering 2023, although the prices of coal, gas and oil have cooled down, they are still high.

After 4 years, although the retail electricity price has been adjusted to increase by an average of 3%, it has only partially solved the financial difficulties and EVN still has to continue to face many difficulties in financial balance.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Nam, in the coming time, electricity price management will be legalized and approach market prices, so EVN hopes to reduce financial difficulties.

Last year, EVN lost more than VND26,200 billion. A recent report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that in the first half of this year, the "giant" in the electricity industry recorded a loss of about VND35,400 billion, but by August this loss had decreased to VND28,700 billion.

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