Govt wants GKG in strong hands

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)