The joint ministries agreed to increase transportation costs and fuel surcharges from the next operating period.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance have coordinated to review and agree to adjust the transportation costs and surcharges to ensure they accurately reflect actual costs incurred. Illustrative photo

This agency stated: In recent days, there has been a phenomenon of a number of retail gasoline businesses requesting to close or temporarily suspend business concentrated in a number of provinces and cities such as Can Tho, An Giang, Binh Phuoc, Dak Lak...

The Domestic Market Department - Ministry of Industry and Trade explained that the main reason for the above phenomenon is that since the end of 2021, the costs of petroleum business have increased sharply, the key enterprises do not have enough financial resources to import goods, so they mainly maintain enough goods to supply their distribution system and maintain the required inventory reserves. Many enterprises have sharply reduced sales discounts to limit the purchase of many goods from retail agents, leading to retail enterprises operating at a loss.

In addition, the recent storm and flood situation also partly affected the delivery of goods by businesses, leading to disruptions or local shortages of supply in some localities.

Ensures accurate reflection of actual costs incurred

Faced with the above situation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed key traders and petroleum distributors to proactively source goods, have import plans and strictly implement the plan for allocating total sources and minimum import limits (for key traders) approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2022 to ensure adequate supply of petroleum for the domestic market.

At the same time, on October 6, 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade - Finance coordinated to review and agree to adjust the cost of transporting gasoline from the factory to the port and the premium level (the commission rate calculated per liter for the main enterprise, on the basis of which the main enterprise will calculate the commission for the retail enterprise) in the base price of gasoline products in the gasoline price management period of October 11, 2022 to ensure that it accurately reflects the actual costs incurred by enterprises, helping enterprises increase the discount rate in the gasoline distribution system and minimize the impact on gasoline prices and the Government's inflation control.

This is considered an important solution and has been proposed by the Petroleum Association to the Ministry of Finance many times, but has not been resolved.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also requested the State Bank of Vietnam to direct commercial banks to have support policies and create favorable conditions for petroleum businesses in terms of credit limits and preferential interest rates to help petroleum businesses reduce financial costs, increase resources to import from abroad and purchase petroleum from domestic production sources, ensuring sufficient petroleum supply for the market.

Propose that the main traders share profits reasonably

In addition, to ensure the maintenance of adequate and continuous supply of petroleum for the domestic market, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Official Dispatch No. 6192/BCT-TTTN requesting the Chairmen of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to coordinate and direct State management agencies and petroleum trading enterprises in the area to carry out the following tasks and solutions:

Firstly, it is recommended that local petroleum businesses not interrupt the supply of petroleum in their business systems; maintain sales activities at their petroleum retail stores.

Second, it is recommended that the main traders of petroleum and petroleum distributors in the area share the supply and profits in the distribution system with agents and retail stores of petroleum in a reasonable manner; retail businesses, agents and petroleum stores share the difficulties of the main traders and distributors of petroleum in the recent past.

Third, direct state management agencies to closely monitor the sale of gasoline at retail gasoline stores in the area, ensuring that sales of gasoline businesses are not interrupted; request gasoline businesses in the area to commit to strictly implementing the regulations in Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP.