Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) to clarify some issues, especially the results of its restructure. The message was conveyed on  Wednesday by a working group led by the Government Office Vice Chairman Nguyen Cao Luc.

Luc said in the National Assembly meeting in May, the PM asked the working group to implement check-ups on some State-owned groups including EVN on implementing their assigned tasks. In addition, the group would review the implementation of the PM’s Directive No 24 on key solutions to achieve the growth rate target of 6.7 per cent this year.

He said EVN was asked to clarify its electricity production and distribution while ensuring its growth rate of 11.5 per cent a year. It was also urged to ensure electricity supply for the economy in general and the southern region in particular to avoid power shortages. EVN needed to report measures undertaken to achieve the set targets.

“Ensuring power supply has been one of solutions put forward to meet the economy’s growth rate target. However, there has been some overloading of the power supply in 2017, causing instability for the system’s operation. In the four days of extremely hot weather at the beginning of last month, there were up to 12,632 calls to EVN’s call centre relating to power outages. EVN should have solutions to prevent such a situation,” he added.

The PM’s message also noted that the group should review its operations at hydropower plants and flood spillways to avoid adverse effects on people downstream.

In addition, the group’s investment in some projects that are part of the Viet Nam Power Development Master Plan VII have been delayed due to difficulties in arranging capital and construction administration.

EVN was required to come up with solutions to accelerate progress of the projects to ensure power supply for the economy.

Figures from EVN’s integrated financial report in 2015 showed that the group held the leading position in term of debts in comparison with other State-owned groups and corporations. Its loans have been mostly guaranteed by the Government. A report from the Ministry of Finance revealed that EVN in 2015 borrowed an additional US$2 billion, increasing the Government guarantee level for the group to $49.7 billion so far.

“EVN should enhance capital utilisation effectiveness while diversifying loans in foreign currencies to reduce exchange rate risks. The group should report on solutions to reduce direct and indirect spending,” the vice chairman said.

EVN was assigned 153 tasks from the Government and the PM from October 1, 2016 to June 10, 2017. Of which, 129 tasks were completed while 24 are still to be implemented.

The group therefore should put forward measures to ensure the progress of the assigned tasks. — VNS