Former Pertamina Director: LNG Procurement Yielded Profit of Over 97 Million Dollars
Jakarta — Hari Karyuliarto, Director of Gas at PT Pertamina (Persero) from 2012 to 2014, has stated that there was an accumulated profit of more than 97 million US dollars from the procurement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Corpus Christi.
The accumulated profit, he said, was based on an Audit Report from Indonesia’s State Audit Board (BPK) that was presented during expert examination proceedings at the Corruption Court at the Jakarta Central District Court on Monday.
“It turns out in the audit report there is a profit calculation: 2019 profit, 2020 loss, 2021 loss, 2022 profit, and 2023 profit. Cumulatively, there was profit,” Hari stated after the hearing.
He therefore questioned where the alleged state losses lay in the LNG procurement corruption case.
He argued that a partial loss in procurement cannot be calculated as state financial harm.
Hari’s lawyer, Humisar Sahala Panjaitan, stated that during the hearing, the BPK expert indicated that the alleged state losses from LNG procurement stemmed from only 11 cargo shipments out of 97 total cargo shipments.
“So from those 11 cargo shipments, a loss of 113 million US dollars was calculated,” said Humisar.
He noted that in total there was a net profit difference of approximately 90 million US dollars.
Hari is a defendant in an alleged corruption case involving LNG procurement 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 from 2012 to 2013, as a co-defendant.
Both defendants are alleged to have caused state financial losses of 113.84 million US dollars, equivalent to approximately 1.77 trillion rupiah, through unlawful actions that enriched Pertamina’s Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2014, Galaila Karen Kardinah (also known as Karen Agustiawan), by 1.09 billion rupiah and 104,016 US dollars, and enriched CCL by 113.84 million US dollars.
The alleged unlawful conduct involved Hari failing to establish guidelines for the LNG procurement process from international sources and proceeding with LNG procurement from Cheniere Energy Inc. Yenni is accused of recommending that Hari sign a Circular Board Minutes concerning the decision to sign LNG purchase agreements for Train 1 and Train 2 from CCL without adequate economic analysis, risk assessment, mitigation measures, or confirmed LNG buyers bound by contract.
The conduct of both defendants is governed and threatened with penalties under Article 2 paragraph (1) or Article 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 on Corruption Eradication as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001, in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) and Article 64 paragraph (1) of the Indonesian Criminal Code.