Govt wants GKG in strong hands

JAKARTA (JP): The Minister of Finance, Mar'ie Muhammad, said yesterday investors wanting to buy the bankrupt Golden Key Group's (GKG) assets must be financially strong enough to do so without further burdening state-owned Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo).

Speaking at a House Budgetary Commission hearing, Mar'ie said many investors were interested in buying the assets.

But they eventually withdrew from negotiations with Bapindo after realizing the real value of the assets was far below their book value.

"If I was offered, I would not buy the assets with even Rp 700 billion (US$290 million) ... Who wants to operate second hand machineries? What if they enter the project and then suffer losses?" Mar'ie asked.

If the investors suffered losses after taking over the project, it would further burden state banks which had channeled credits to Golden Key Group, he said.

"What is important here is to chose the right company which can run the project well as it has become our national assets without further burdening Bapindo," Mar'ie said.

Most of Golden Key Group's assets have been idle since 1994 when the government jailed the group's former owner Eddy Tansil for manipulating Rp 1.4 trillion in loans, mostly from Bapindo.

The other banks extending credits to Tansil included four other state-owned banks: Bank Bumi Daya, Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Exim and Bank Dagang Negara.

Tansil escaped from jail in Jakarta on May 4 last year and is still at large.

Mar'ie said some of Tansil's private assets had been seized and sold. They included land, houses and cars.

The Attorney General's office is tracking Tansil's assets overseas.

The Director General of Financial Institutions, Bambang Subianto, said the sale of Tansil's assets had helped reduce Bapindo's and state banks' bad loans.

Bad loans at the seven state banks dropped to Rp 6.36 trillion last December from Rp 7.07 trillion in November. Doubtful loans were recorded at Rp 6.4 trillion and problem loans at Rp 5.88 trillion last December.

Bad loans for all Indonesian commercial banks stood at Rp 9.5 trillion last December, down from 10.4 trillion in November. Doubtful loans stood at Rp 8.55 billion and problem loans at Rp 11.07 trillion.

To minimize further losses to Bapindo the government allowed the bank to negotiate only with corporations and not with individuals, Mar'ie said

"Thus, those wanting to take over the assets should have a corporate guarantee," Mar'ie said.

The minister dismissed reports that the government had approved businessman Fadel Muhammad's plan to take over Golden Key Group's assets.

He said the government had no rights over Golden Key Group's assets because it had transferred all confiscated assets to the consortium of state banks, led by Bapindo.

"Everything has been transferred to Bapindo. And now Bapindo is negotiating with interested parties. If the negotiations are completed, we will announce it," Mar'ie said.

But Mar'ie did not explicitly refer to Fadel's announcement that his new company, PT Serang Industri Utama, had government approval to buy the assets, mostly unfinished chemical plants, and its Rp 1.4 trillion debts.

"News reports fuss over this and that, but it is not wise for me to comment on this person and that person," Mar'ie said.

He promised to pay the group's debts to the consortium of state banks within 20 years, with grace period of five years.

Serang Industri Utama is 65 percent owned by Fadel, 25 percent by Ramles Manampang and 10 percent by Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita.

When news about Fadel's plan to take over the projects broke, many parties asked how Fadel would get the money to continue the unfinished projects and repay the huge debts.

Fadel said he had commitments from foreign financial sources and would invite other investors, including President Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra, to join his plan.

Meanwhile, the Econit research group has questioned the way the government and Bapindo were transferring Golden Key's assets to private investors.

It called for transparency in handling state banks' bad debts, including the selling of assets seized because of bad loans. (rid)