Domas not involved in Mandiri bad loan case

Domas not involved in Mandiri bad loan case

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The management of palm oil company PT Domas Agro Inti Prima, a
unit of the Domba Mas Group, has denied any involvement in the
alleged lending scam at state-owned Bank Mandiri.

Domas president Feery Tanudjaja said recently that his company
had secured a loan worth almost US$79 million from Bank Mandiri
in 2002 to finance its 74-hectare oleochemical plant in Kuala
Tandjung, North Sumatra. However, the company had met all the
administrative and legal requirements and the formal procedure to
get the loan, he explained.

"Media reports that Domas is one of four companies involved in
the Bank Mandiri loan case are groundless. The recent result of
the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) report has shown that Domas has no
problem with its loan from Bank Mandiri and it has been paying
back the loan in accordance with the lending agreement," he said.

The Attorney General's Office investigating the giant lending
case has declared three top officials of the bank suspects and
has planned to expand its investigation to include four companies
-- PT Bakrie Telecom, PT Semen Bosowa Maros, PT Batavindo and
Domas -- as they are four of the 28 companies that received a
total of Rp 12 trillion (US$1.27 billion) in loans from the state
bank.

Feery added that he had obtained a clarification from the BPK
on the AGO's preliminary investigation result into the case last
Friday. The result said Domas' payment of its installments had
complied with the lending agreement.

"We have no problems in paying back the loan because we just
signed large 10-year business deal worth $200 billion with
Procter & Gamble Chemicals (P&G Chemicals), a major American
company concentrating its activities in consumer products," he
said.

Domas has a total of over four million hectares of oil palm
plantations in Sumatra and operates several (crude palm oil) CPO
factories in Riau and North Sumatra, to ensure raw materials for
its integrated oleochemical factory, which is nearing completion.