Govt agrees Telkom board changes

Govt agrees Telkom board changes

JAKARTA (JP): The government is prepared to install new
members on the boards of commissioners and directors at the
state-owned domestic telecommunications firm PT Telkom.

Informed sources at the Ministry of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications said yesterday that Minister of Finance Mar'ie
Muhammad has agreed with Minister of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications Joop Ave to replace Telkom's chief
commissioner, chief executive officer (president), director of
finance and director of planning and technology.

When asked for confirmation yesterday, Telkom's president
Setyanto P. Santosa told The Jakarta Post in Balikpapan, East
Kalimantan, that the issue would be discussed during the
company's shareholders meeting scheduled for May 17.

"The shift will depend on the results of the meeting," he
said.

The shareholders meeting will be the first since Telkom
floated shares on the Jakarta, Surabaya, London and New York
stock exchanges last year to raise Rp 2.3 trillion (US$985
million) from the domestic offering and $519.1 million from the
overseas offering.

Telkom last year gained a net profit of Rp 907 billion (US$388
million), up 14 percent from Rp 795 billion in 1994, while its
total operating revenues increased by 26 percent to Rp 5.1
trillion ($2.18 billion) from Rp 4.04 trillion.

Setyanto, 50, who became president of Telkom in 1992,
graduated from Padjadjaran University in Bandung. Setyanto, also
a former president of the state-owned telecommunications
equipment manufacturer PT Inti, completed his master's degree at
Michigan State University in the United States.

Commissioner

Sources said yesterday that the government is likely to assign
Bambang Subianto, a senior official at the Ministry of Finance,
to replace Martiono Hadianto as Telkom's chief commissioner.
Martiono, 51, was appointed chief commissioner of Telkom last
year before its initial public offering.

The sources added that Setyanto probably would be replaced by
Wisnu Askari Marantika, who is currently Telkom's senior
executive vice president for engineering.

Wisnu, 43 years old and a graduate of the Bandung Institute of
Technology, is expected to be replaced by Andi Siswaka Faisal, a
Telkom executive for operational and sales affairs. Telkom's
finance director, Muljohardjoko, 55, is expected to be replaced
by Harry Supangkat, an official at the Ministry of Finance, the
source added.

Setyanto, who replaced Cacuk Sudarijanto in 1992, continued
his predecessor's restructuring programs by cutting the number of
its area offices from 12 to just seven in 1995 and the number of
its directorates from six to four.

According to Telkom's prospectus last year, the government
stipulates that the working period of the board of commissioners
will expire after three company shareholders meetings and the
board of directors after five meetings.

Telkom's current boards of commissioners and directors were
sworn in by Joop Ave on April 17, 1995, based on a Minister of
Finance decree dated March 15, 1995. (icn)