Former Pertamina Director: Expert testimonies reinforce legality of LNG procurement policy
Jakarta — Hari Karyuliarto, former Gas Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) for 2012-2014, has stated that expert testimony presented during court proceedings has reinforced that the company’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) procurement policy decisions did not violate regulations.
He noted that testimony from the State Goods and Services Procurement Committee (Lembaga Kebijakan Pengadaan Barang/Jasa Pemerintah, or LKPP) confirmed that LNG procurement did not require competitive tender procedures.
“Therefore, the direct negotiation conducted by Pertamina’s management at that time, carried out by the company’s marketing team, was correct. It was not necessary to hold a tender,” Hari stated when met after an expert examination hearing at the Corruption Court (Pengadilan Tipikor) at the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday.
Additionally, he noted that expert testimony on state-owned enterprise governance indicated that if Pertamina conducted activities consistent with its established purpose—namely, oil and gas commerce—such activities did not require approval from the Board of Commissioners or shareholders’ meetings.
Consequently, he argued, the charges against him regarding tender procedures and the absence of commissioner and shareholder approval in the LNG procurement were automatically refuted by expert testimony.
“These are two very positive points for us,” he said.
Hari is a defendant in a suspected corruption case involving the procurement of liquefied natural gas from Corpus Christi Liquefaction LLC (CCL) at Pertamina and other related agencies between 2011 and 2021.
The case also involves Yenni Andayani, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development in Pertamina’s Gas Directorate (2012-2013), as a co-defendant.
Both defendants are accused of causing state financial losses totalling USD 113.84 million, equivalent to Rp1.77 trillion, through unlawful conduct that enriched Pertamina President Director Galaila Karen Kardinah (also known as Karen Agustiawan) by Rp1.09 billion and USD 104,016, and enriched CCL by USD 113.84 million.
The alleged unlawful conduct involved Hari’s failure to develop guidelines for international LNG procurement whilst continuing to process LNG procurement from Cheniere Energy Inc. Yenni is accused of proposing that Hari sign a circular board resolution concerning the decision to execute LNG purchase agreements for Train 1 and Train 2 from CCL without supporting economic analysis, risk assessments, and mitigation measures in the CCL LNG procurement process, and without securing bound LNG buyers for CCL.
Both defendants face charges under Article 2(1) or Article 3 of Law No. 31 of 1999 regarding the Eradication of Corruption Offences, as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001, in conjunction with Article 55(1) and Article 64(1) of the Indonesian Criminal Code.