Dony Oskaria: Closing BUMNs Will Not Cover Up Criminal Acts

President Prabowo Subianto has announced plans to significantly cut or close a number of state-owned enterprises (BUMNs) in a major drive for efficiency concerning public funds. The Head of the State-Owned Enterprise Supervisory Board (BP BUMN), Dony Oskaria, stressed that closing a BUMN would not eliminate any criminal matters if they indeed existed. ‘These closures do not mean erasing the mistakes they made. So, if people later say, “They closed it, so what about their past theft?” Well, that is not the case, boss. It will not cover up the criminal problems,’ Dony stated at the KPK’s ACLC building in Jakarta on Monday (29/6/2026). Dony explained that the BUMNs being closed are those that have been suffering losses. The action is being taken to prevent even greater losses. ‘For example, if a company has been losing money every year, and we think it will lose money next year and the year after, it is better to close it to avoid deeper losses,’ he said. Dony met with the KPK today to discuss several matters, including the closure of these BUMNs. He stated that the KPK offered its support. ‘That was also discussed so we can make the right decision. The KPK also conveyed that as long as our intention is good, to avoid deeper and more prolonged losses, it is permissible,’ he mentioned. ‘However, as stated earlier, it does not eliminate all malicious acts if there was mens rea (criminal intent),’ he added. The matter of cutting BUMNs was initially raised by Prabowo during the closing of the National Symposium of the Indonesian Science, Technology, and Industry Convention (KSTI) 2026 at JCC, Senayan, Jakarta, on Sunday (28/6). Prabowo was reading out a proposal from academics regarding the allocation of BUMN profits for university research. ‘The problem is, do these BUMNs have profits? Are they starting to now? Thank you, Danantara. In the past year, some have started to show profits,’ Prabowo said. He noted that many BUMNs were not profitable, yet the state continued to pay the salaries of their directors and commissioners. He stressed that his administration is currently cleaning up and disciplining these BUMNs.