IBRA asks Sjamsul to settle his Rp 28.5t debt

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Bank Restructuring (IBRA) called for businessman Sjamsul Nursalim of the Gajah Tunggal Group conglomerate on Wednesday to be cooperative in settling his obligation to the agency.

IBRA deputy chairman Mahmuddin Yasin said that the businessman owed the agency some Rp 28.5 trillion (US$3.31 billion).

"What we ask from Sjamsul Nursalim is his cooperation in settling his obligation to the government through IBRA," Mahmuddin said at a press conference.

He expects Sjamsul to come to the agency at the latest on Friday to resume negotiation.

Sjamsul's now defunct Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI) has received some Rp 28.5 trillion in liquidity support from the government when the economic crisis heightened in 1998.

The businessman has to repay the debt via IBRA, a unit of the finance ministry.

Mahmuddin said that Sjamsul agreed in September 1998 to settle his obligation through a combination of cash and transfer of assets.

He said that Sjamsul, one of the country's richest businessmen during the era of former president Soeharto, has promised to pay Rp 1 trillion in cash.

But Mahmuddin said that the agency had so far only received Rp 337 billion.

He said that Sjamsul has argued that his deposits at BDNI should be enough to cover the remaining cash obligation.

"But this is unacceptable," Mahmuddin said, pointing out that deposits of affiliated companies were not guaranteed by the government.

"Sjamsul is required to deposit (additional) cash in the amount of Rp 663 billion," he said.

The government has guaranteed all deposits in the country's banking sector to avoid widespread panic in the event the government shut down a bank. But deposits of companies affiliated to closed down banks are not included.

Mahmuddin said that Sjamsul had pledged three of his companies including tire maker PT Gajah Tunggal, integrated shrimp industry PT Dipasena, and PT GT Petrochemical Industry to repay the remaining Rp 27.5 trillion of his debt.

"To date, the pledging of the assets to IBRA has not been fully completed as stipulated in the (September agreement)," he said.

He also said that the companies scheduled for surrender to IBRA have depreciated in value.

He said that the reevaluation of the assets is still being completed.

But he said Sjamsul has promised to surrender his 65 percent ownership in PT Indonesia Prima Property, and 80 percent interest in PT Pelsart Resource to cover the decline in the value of the pledged assets.

One of IBRA's mandates is to make sure that former bank owners repay their debts to the government, that injected massive liquidity support to the banks between 1998 and 1999.

The agency has been strongly criticized for its poor performance in forcing former bank owners to repay their debts.

One of the strongest critics is Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie, who vowed recently in a television interview that he would take the uncooperative former bank owners to court himself if IBRA continued to be reluctant.

Kwik has also criticized IBRA for accepting assets whose real values are much smaller that what has been claimed by the owners. (rei)