The unpaid dues of business sector companies to the Ministry of Electricity and Energy amounted to EGP 1.2bn at the end of December. Sources from the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) said that the ministry suffers from a lack of liquidity, which may affect the electricity supply. They added that business sector companies, a number of government agencies, and some local administrations did not pay their electricity consumption bills, pointing out that some leaders of electricity distribution companies have visited a number of companies several weeks ago to ask them to pay their dues. Minister of Public Sector Affairs Ashraf El-Sharkawy has demanded the holding companies affiliated with the ministry to pay or schedule their dues to the ministries of petroleum and electricity. El-Sharkawy faces four major problems with the textiles sector, including its debts to social insurance, electricity, gas, and banks; as well as outdated machinery and the high fuel prices. According to sources, El-Sharkawy will hold meetings with Minister of Electricity Mohamed Hamed Shaker to discuss scheduling the debts. The sources pointed out that the repayment of dues is important to help electricity companies to fulfill their obligations in order to provide electricity supply and finance the establishment of new projects for production, transmission, and distribution of electricity nationwide. The sources stressed that the companies should pay their monthly electricity bills as well as the scheduled dues, so that each sector can fulfill its duties. Osama Asran, Deputy Minister of Electricity, held a meeting on Wednesday with leaders of commercial sectors to discuss improving performance of companies and follow up on the procedures of collecting the bills. Asran stressed the necessity to solve any complaints regarding electricity bills through reviewing the bills before sending them to subscribers. He also called on reviewing the electricity meters to ensure the rights of citizens and companies. The meeting also tackled a number of topics, including the citizens' complaints about high electricity bills, the collection of dues, and the development of new mechanisms to improve business performance indicators.
