​Statement:

After the session, which was attended by the Director General of Electricité du Liban, Eng. Kamal Hayek, Acting Minister of Information, Abbas Halaby, read the following statement:

“The Council of Ministers held a session headed by President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun in the presence of Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the ministers.

 At the beginning of the session, the council listened to a presentation by the Minister of Energy on the national plan to reform the electricity sector. After deliberation, the following were decided:

 1- Initial approval of the plan after complying with the following points:

 -The necessity to implement Law 462 dated 2/9/2002 (regulating the electricity sector) immediately, especially the part related to the formation of the regulatory body and the designation of its members with the approved specifications in accordance with international standards.

 -Formation of a ministerial committee headed by the Minister of Justice, and membership of the Ministers of Energy and Water, Interior and Municipalities, Education and Higher Education, and Culture and Social Affairs. The mission of the committee is to review the Law Regulating the Electricity Sector and to suggest whatever observations it may deem to require action, amendments where necessary without, precluding the application of the law in its current form of what was stated in the first clause.

-Raising the tariff after the improvement of production, starting from 8 to 10 hours per day, considering the situation of people with limited income whose monthly consumption does not exceed 500 kilowatts. In this context, the government is committed to adjusting the tariff gradually and in stages with improving productivity under the same conditions referred to above, in a way that allows covering the costs.

-Develop a plan to improve collection of bills especially through the use of smart meters.

-Assigning the Minister of Energy and Water to review the plan submitted by the Ministry in a manner that clearly adopts the  points that the government has committed to in accordance with the above, and submits it again to the Council of Ministers.

-Purchasing 50,000 tons of imported wheat prepared for mills when needed, to secure the need for local consumption of flour in order to preserve food security, provided that the purchase is made according to public tenders conducted in accordance with legal principles.

 -Giving the General Directorate of Grains and Sugar Beets an advance to purchase 50,000 tons of imported wheat intended for mills and loaf making, with all supplementary expenses in the amount of /36,500,000,000/LBP.  This advance must be paid immediately upon the sale of wheat.

The wheat imported by the Lebanese state is delivered to  the mills according to consensual spending contracts, for each mill according to the proportion of its production of flour intended for the production of Lebanese bread.”

Answering a question about the elections supervising body, he said : "The cabinet has decided to extend the previously formed parliamentary elections supervising body, and appoint three new members to replace those who submitted their resignations. The appointees are: Judge Ahmed Hamdan, Mr. Khalil El-Khoury and Mr. Nassim El-Khoury."

 Asked whether the Cabinet adopted the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the war in Ukraine, he replied: "This issue was only raised out of the expression of astonishment presented by Minister Bayram.”​