Many regulations make it difficult for businesses in the new draft decree on gasoline

Many contents still cause difficulties for businesses

Sharing at the workshop to contribute ideas to the draft Decree on petroleum business organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and VCCI on May 14, Mr. Trinh Quang Khanh, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Petroleum Association (VINPA), said that general regulations in the draft Decree should be reduced to create favorable conditions for businesses, especially other regulations related to forcing businesses to build warehouses of 2,000 m3. According to Mr. Khanh, current regulations allow businesses to rent warehouses, but why is the draft stipulating that businesses must build their own warehouses?

For example, the draft Law requires petroleum traders, depending on the type of business, to have a distribution system, including a certain number of specific traders, retail stores, sales contracts, warehouses and means of transport... which will increase administrative procedures, causing inconvenience and costs for businesses.

In particular, discriminatory regulations such as giving more rights to wholesale traders or regulations that are interventionist and coercive in nature related to business freedom. For example, distributors are only allowed to buy gasoline from wholesale traders and not from other sources.

Expressing the view that petroleum management is always a difficult problem, requiring a balance of many interests, Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy General Secretary and Head of the Legal Department of VCCI, said that administrative interventions in petroleum business activities are only temporary solutions. Therefore, it is necessary to create market momentum for sustainable market development. Amendments to the draft need to be in the direction of creating business momentum for enterprises and other entities participating in business in the market.

Retail businesses are still not able to buy from multiple sources.

Mr. Hoang Trung Dung, General Director of Additives and Petroleum Products Development Joint Stock Company (APP), said that businesses have never faced such difficulties as they do now, due to inappropriate regulations in the petroleum business. The draft decree allows wholesalers to buy from many sources, but only allows distributors to buy from wholesalers. Why not allow distributors to buy from each other and buy directly from refineries? Mr. Dung raised the issue.

Ms. Tran Thuy Thuy Tram, Director of Doan Viet Company Limited, said that recently, Doan Viet and many other petroleum retail enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City and the whole country have repeatedly sent petitions to the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade - Finance to point out the shortcomings and difficulties that caused disruptions in the supply of petroleum in 2022. At the same time, they also contributed ideas to amend and supplement the new Decree to suit the business situation according to the market mechanism, to avoid disruptions in supply.

Specifically, Ms. Tram said that currently, business norms are based on price calculation from the source, but when it comes to retail businesses, this part is not included.

“We suggest that the norms for the wholesale, distribution and retail stages need to be clearly defined. The cost for retail businesses must be between 6-7% and not lower than 5% so that retail businesses can maintain their business operations,” Ms. Tram suggested.

Sharing at the workshop, Mr. Phan Van Chinh, Director of the Domestic Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that all legal documents must originate from practice. The drafting agency hopes to hear diverse, even conflicting opinions to build the best decree. The draft aims to reduce multiple objectives in management, contribute to ensuring national energy security, and harmonize the interests of all parties.

“The issue is related to price and the drafting agency really wants to listen because it creates a lack of initiative for businesses. We also should not be afraid of businesses making too much profit when we already have corporate income tax to regulate it,” said Mr. Chinh.

Responding to the opinions of businesses, Mr. Chinh affirmed that the management agency will synthesize and absorb the opinions. According to Mr. Chinh, determining the price of gasoline is a headache for the management agency, even having dozens of meetings to listen to comments on how to calculate the most stable price.