Court denies Dharmala bankruptcy petition

Court denies Dharmala bankruptcy petition

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Commercial Court turned down on
Monday a bankruptcy petition filed by multifinance firm PT Hanil
Bakrie Finance against publicly listed PT Dharmala Sakti
Sejahtera.

Presiding judge Victor Hutabarat said that the court rejected
the plea because the two firms were still involved in
negotiations.

"Since the two firms are still involved in negotiations, we
cannot approve the bankruptcy petition," he said.

The plaintiff's lawyer Yan Apul of the Yan Apul law firm
insisted that the verdict had disappointed his client because PT
Dharmala Sakti had already failed to pay off its debts which had
fallen due.

"All debts are due and payable," he said, adding that his
client had met all the basic requirements for filing a bankruptcy
petition.

PT Hanil Bakrie Finance, a joint venture firm between Hanil
Leasing Company Ltd. of Korea and the Bakrie Group, lodged a
bankruptcy petition against PT Dharmala early last month seeking
the recovery of US$2.2 million in promissory notes.

All the debts fell due on July 8 last year.

Yan Apul said that his client would consider appealing to the
Supreme Court.

"We will make an appeal in the next two days," he
said.

Hanil Bakrie's president S.C. Chung separately told The
Jakarta Post that the verdict would further damage the prospects
of the lending and borrowing environment in Indonesia.

"The verdict is a bad precedent for the country and it will
have a severe impact on the borrowing climate in the future," he
said.

Last week, the Supreme Court turned down an appeal by the
International Finance Corporation -- the private investment arm
of the World Bank -- together with ING Indonesia Bank and
publicly listed Bank Niaga to declare food producer PT Dharmala
Agrifood bankrupt after their previous petition was thrown out by
the Jakarta Commercial Court early December last year.

Both PT Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera and PT Dharmala Agrifood are
subsidiaries of the widely-diversified Dharmala Group.

In another development, the Jakarta commercial court also
rejected on Friday an insolvency petition filed by the defunct
Bank Yama against sports equipment producer PT Nassau Sports
Indonesia on Monday because the former was a secured creditor.

Presiding judge Joedijono said that as a secured creditor,
Bank Yama could not file an insolvency petition with the
commercial court.

Bank Yama lodged a bankruptcy petition against PT Nassau early
this month over the latter's failure to repay a total US$1.5
million in loans obtained from the bank in 1996.

The plaintiff's lawyer Dauly of Dauly and Associates law firm
was considering an appeal to the Supreme Court. (aly)