Minister Nguyen Hong Dien: Maintaining the Petroleum Stabilization Fund is extremely important

The issue of domestic gasoline supply and price was concerned by many National Assembly deputies, questioned Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

On March 16, continuing the program of the 9th session, the National Assembly Standing Committee conducted a question-and-answer session.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien posted on a forum to answer questions about production, import, supply and price management of gasoline.

At the beginning of the questioning session, delegate (NE) Tran Quoc Tuan (Tra Vinh delegation) mentioned that the situation of the Covid-19 epidemic was complicated and difficult to predict, the Russia-Ukraine conflict affected petrol and oil prices. This product has continuously increased in the country, greatly affecting production and business.

This is also a matter of concern to NE Nguyen Dai Thang (Hung Yen delegation), NE Tran Van Sau (Dong Thap delegation), suggesting to clarify the scarcity of supply, “picking up goods”, and dealers have sold out signs. goods in some regions. The delegates asked the Minister to clearly state the ministry’s responsibilities in the management and supply of petroleum and solutions in the coming time.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien answered questions on the morning of March 16

Responding to questions from the Delta, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said that besides supply disruptions in some countries with large oil production along with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the domestic market faced difficulties due to the Refinery Refinery. Nghi Son oil reduced capacity. Faced with that situation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed the system of key enterprises to increase the amount of imports to ensure supply for the domestic market. “The supply of petroleum is never short of,” the Minister affirmed.

Regarding the operation, Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien said that the Inter-Ministry of Industry, Trade and Finance has closely followed current regulations, the latest is Decree 95 of the Government, flexibly using the petrol price stabilization fund to control the situation. increase in petroleum products.

The head of the industry and trade industry said, the world’s gasoline price increase margin is from 40-60%, while in our country it is lower, at 29-40%. “In the context of the skyrocketing gasoline price, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance have advised and recommended the Government to develop a Resolution to reduce environmental protection tax on gasoline in order to further reduce the price of gasoline in the country. “- said the minister.

Leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that without flexibly and effectively using the stabilization fund, in the past time, domestic gasoline prices could not have increased lower than the world. “The maintenance of the petrol price stabilization fund is extremely important. However, the fund is limited, currently around 600 billion dong, large enterprises are in negative funds”- Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien stated.

In the context of world prices, if prices continue to rise, the Minister said that he would advise the Government to study and reduce other taxes and fees. When the tax tool has expired, in order to minimize the impact of gasoline prices on vulnerable groups, Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien said that it is necessary to take into account types of funds such as social security, direct support policies, etc. for this target group.

Participating in the interrogation, Representative Nguyen Thi Kim Be (Kien Giang delegation) asked what role domestic oil refineries play in the current context so that we can be proactive about supply and stabilize prices. In addition to the price stabilization fund, NE Be proposed to the Minister of Industry and Trade to come up with a more fundamental and stable solution to better manage petroleum supply and stabilize prices.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien emphasized that the problem of NE is very true, this is also the unknown in the equation to solve the problem of petroleum supply. Binh Son Refinery and Petrochemical Plant, invested by the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), operates well, supplying about 30-35% of domestic petroleum. Meanwhile, Nghi Son Refinery, invested by a joint venture, including PVN, is facing financial difficulties.

According to the Minister, relevant agencies are urgently working with joint ventures to solve difficulties. “We have suggested, when PVN is sure that the output from Nghi Son is enough to supply the market, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will stop importing more petrol and oil”- the Minister said; At the same time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed to competent authorities to thoroughly consider and handle issues related to oil refineries.

Leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade also emphasized the review to improve the efficiency of the petroleum price stabilization fund, including calculating the size of the fund, considering the source of funding from the state budget or from any other source.

After some content on the issue of gasoline was answered by Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, Representative Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap delegation) registered to argue and clearly stated the status of petrol shops with “out of stock” signs. According to Mr. Hoa, some retail agents are “not good enough” to hoard goods, but public opinion suspects are businesses and traders distributing hoarding goods.

In this regard, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said that through inspection and control across the country, there were 211 petrol stations that stopped selling in the past time for various reasons, possibly due to repair or technical problems. Technically, there are a few shops that don’t sell “gadgets”.

For petrol stations that announced they were out of stock, the authorities clarified that they were importing goods from clues sourced from Nghi Son, so they had problems in a short time. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed supply sharing to solve this problem.