"Energy Public Enterprises Neglect 460 Billion Won Worth of Materials"

Unused for over 5 years after purchase... KHNP's maximum loss of 300 billion won

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power headquarters building. (Photo by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It has been revealed that energy public enterprises, including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, have left approximately 1.6 million materials purchased at a cost of over 460 billion KRW unused and neglected for a long period.

According to the 'Material Storage Status' data submitted on the 27th by Lee Juhwan, a member of the People Power Party belonging to the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee, from 10 energy public enterprises under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the total number of long-term unused materials held by these public enterprises was counted at 1,666,302.

Long-term unused materials refer to items that have been stored without being issued for more than three years. Although they are not immediately utilized, they are kept in preparation for future use.

By public enterprise, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power had the largest amount with 1,176,380 items. Korea Gas Corporation followed with 44,988 items, and Korea Nuclear Fuel with 43,911 items.

The total purchase cost of long-term unused materials for the 10 energy public enterprises was investigated to be 463.376 billion KRW. The purchase cost of materials that have been left unused for a long time and are practically difficult to use reached over 400 billion KRW. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's inventory cost was the highest at 330.939 billion KRW.

By unused period, those unused for 5 to less than 10 years accounted for the majority with 876,523 items. Those unused for more than 10 years numbered 440,544.

Representative Lee said, "Inaccurate demand forecasting by each public enterprise is the biggest cause of poor inventory management," adding, "We need to reduce unnecessary material inventory through accurate demand forecasting techniques and improve inventory standards to prevent waste of taxpayers' money."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.