CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) chairman Pan Wenent (潘文炎) said yesterday he had tendered his resignation to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, pending official approval.
At an emergency press conference yesterday, Pan expressed his regret over mounting losses at the state-run oil refinery, adding that having achieved some of his goals, he felt it was time to leave.
Pan said he had twice tendered his resignation to Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) — on Dec. 16 and Jan. 12.
The resignation of the CPC chairman is expected to be processed at the end of this month.
Pan’s announcement came after earlier comments by Yiin on the possibility of a leadership reshuffle at CPC and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) to inject new blood at the beleaguered state-owned enterprises.
Yiin told reporters yesterday that his ministry had decided last year to restructure CPC and Taipower, and that a personnel reshuffle could be part of the process.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) said the ministry would launch a “state-owned business reform program” this year that would involve a full-scale review of CPC and Taipower in areas such as company image, corporate culture, personnel, financial status and production.
The ministry did not exclude the possibility of replacing the chairmen of the two companies, the report quoted Yiin as saying.
Saying that organizational reform usually included cuts and changes in personnel, the top economic official added yesterday that “What I meant by personnel reshuffle is this — it would not target the chairmen in particular.”
However, asked to confirm reports that the CPC and Taipower chairmen were likely to be replaced, Yiin said anything was possible, adding that he was not in a position to provide more details, as the reform program had yet to be finalized.
Also yesterday, Pan attributed the unprecedented losses of more than NT$110 billion (US$3.26 billion) at CPC to the government’s price measures to tame inflation amid rising global oil prices last year.
“Had local oil prices been allowed to fluctuate and to reflect prices in countries such as Japan or South Korea, CPC’s revenues last year could have increased by between NT$50 billion and NT$70 billion,” Pan said.
To offset losses, Pan implemented a two-to-three year plan to raise NT$50 billion while readjusting domestic oil prices to reflect current global market prices. The measure could have boosted revenues by NT$20 billion annually.
The outgoing chairman said he hoped a new leader would bring a new phase to the troubled oil refinery and bring the company back into profitability.
Taipower refused to comment on the reshuffle yesterday.
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