The situation of closing, suspending their operation, or selling in limit ed quantities of some petroleum retailers has affected people's social psychology and daily life.

Faced with the above situation, the Government and the Prime Minister have issued many documents to assign specific tasks to relevant ministries and agencies to base on current regulations to offer solutions to remove difficulties and ensure the supply for the domestic market, including immediate and long-term solutions.

Ministries and agencies including Industry and Trade, Finance, State Bank of Vietnam, Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, Vietnam National Petroleum Group and related agencies and units have made great efforts to develop specific solutions to ensure the supply for the domestic market. However, the results have not improved; the situation of petroleum shortage still goes on, causing frustration among the public.

In fact, the management, supply and trading of petroleum are assigned to seven ministries, agencies and authorities of 63 cities and provinces. Therefore, the units must cooperate closely, smoothly and effectively, especially amid unusual global and domestic fluctuations.

However, according to National Assembly delegate Tran Van Lam, Standing member of the National Assembly’s Finance and Budget Committee, the main responsibility in the state management of petroleum is the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The most important issue is whether the Ministry of Industry and Trade grasps information on the domestic petroleum business situation, and proposes mechanisms and policies suitable to reality.

Any problems beyond the Ministry of Industry and Trade's authority must be reported to the Government.

“In fact, it is clear that the source of imports and the input supply is not a problem, but the "problem" is in the management stage. Many management measures and tools are currently in the hands of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The problem is which tools and measures the Ministry chooses for the immediate and long-term," said Tran Van Lam.

Many experts also believe that the Ministry of Industry and Trade should soon get involved, find the root reason to offer a suitable solution. The discount in the petroleum business today is also a "problem". Currently, the State does not regulate discounts because this factor depends on market supply and demand, world price movements, and inventory volume of key traders as well as sales methods of the two sides.

Regarding administrative measures, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has full legal tools, legal basis and human resources to inspect and control the whole petroleum supply chain from wholesale to retail, because all imports must be licensed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. All retail stores must have a retail license issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to run their business.

Assign the management focal point to the Ministry of Industry and Trade

To remove obstacles in petroleum management, the Ministry of Finance recently said that it would propose to the Government to amend Decree 95/2021/ND-CP on petroleum trading in the direction of assigning all petroleum matters to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, including price determination and normative costs to ensure active supply.

Many experts agree with this proposal because the assignment of petroleum management to a focal point will avoid overlaps and create more initiative in management.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Thoa, Chairman of the Vietnam Valuation Association, the Government has assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade to manage petroleum production and business, but assigned the price management mechanism to the Ministry of Finance, which is unreasonable, leading to some problems.

Therefore, the proposal of the Minister of Finance is completely reasonable, because the Ministry of Industry and Trade is in charge of production and business activities, it is responsible for ensuring the balance between the supply and demand of petroleum in the market. The management of petroleum production and business will help the Ministry of Industry and Trade understand the global and domestic prices as well as the costs of petroleum production and business enterprises.

Having the same opinion, economist Vu Dinh Anh said the Ministry of Finance should only perform the task of managing state budget revenues, taxes and fees for petroleum business activities, determination of normative costs, base prices and final retail prices should be handed over to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. When there is a clear assignment of responsibilities, we will avoid overlaps and have a good market.

Mr. Vu Dinh Anh said that the proposal of the Ministry of Finance is reasonable and Decree 95/2021/ND-CP should be revised soon. However, this issue is being proposed in the draft Price Law (amended). When the Law on Prices is passed, Decree 95/2021/ND-CP will be adjusted.

Recently, at the 4th session of the 15th National Assembly, the Government submitted to the National Assembly for the first time the consultation to the draft Law on Prices (amended) in the direction of strengthening power decentralization of price management for the number of goods subject to price management by the State for specialized ministries but focusing all on one focal point as the Ministry of Finance.