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Egypt's public sector fails to pay LE11 billion in electricity bills: Spokesperson Public sector companies delay payments, Ministry of Electricity unable to cut their power, says Abu El-Ella
Public sector companies failed to pay roughly LE11 billion in government dues this year, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Electricity told Ahram Online on Thursday. The ministry's main creditor is the Holding Company for Water and Waste Water, with delayed payments of up to LE3 billion in 2013. Other public sector companies with delayed payments of electricity bills include the Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation, the Egyptian Radio and Television Union and the government's business sector. The ministry's spokesperson, Aktham Abu El-Ella, said that they were unable to take any measures such as cutting power in order to force the public sector to pay its electricity bills. The backbone of the ministry's revenues comes from the private sector and households. Egypt faced regular blackouts this summer, with peak demand 3,000 megawatts above capacity due to fuel shortages. Last August, Abu El-Ela told Ahram Online that fuel quantities supplied by the Ministry of Petroleum are not enough. This caused for power cuts in select areas in order to save energy and maintain the grid nationwide. An electricity swap deal between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, under negotiation for the past two years, was finalised last June. The exchange, which is expected to begin within the first half of next year, will allow each country to swap electricity at their respective peak hours, a move that Egyptian officials hope will assuage the country's energy concerns. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/88373.aspx
