Indosat CEO named new Pertamina president
Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta
The government appointed on Wednesday Widya Purnama as the new president director of the embattled state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, in what appears to be a damage control measure amid recent scandals that may affect incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri's reelection bid.
Widya, who was the chief executive of publicly listed telecommunications firm PT Indosat, succeeds Ariffi Nawawi, who has led Pertamina for a tumultuous 11-month period. All the other members of the company's board of directors were also replaced except for finance director Alfred Rohimone.
"This (reshuffle) is part of a restructuring program. It is expected to boost the transparency and performance (of Pertamina), and make the management more solid," a deputy at the Office of State Minister of State Enterprise Roes Aryawijaya said after the induction ceremony.
State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi made the restructure public a week ago. He is also planning to change the management of flagship carrier Garuda Indonesia.
Pertamina, which for decades has been the biggest money-making machine for corrupt government officials and politicians, has been mired in financial difficulties and scandals during the past few months, with cash flow difficulties, the controversial sale of its two giant oil tankers, well-publicized fuel shortages in some parts of the country, and cases of alleged corruption. Some analysts say these high-profile business problems could affect the reelection bid of Megawati, who has been trailing behind her former chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ahead of the September runoff.
Megawati has so far scored low in several opinion polls due to her poor performance in combating deep-rooted corruption.
The move by the previous Pertamina management to sell two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) in June for US$184 million to the Norway-based Frontline Ltd. drew protests from several parties, including lawmakers and company employees, who said the company would have benefitted more if it owned its own tankers to ship the oil. But Pertamina management has insisted leasing the vessels from third parties would be cheaper, something challenged by some independent experts.
The Anticorruption Commission (KPK) is currently investigating alleged irregularities in the transaction.
During the past couple of months, Pertamina has also been under attack for fuel shortage problem plaguing some regions. This is a politically sensitive issue particularly during the current election year.
Widya said after the appointment ceremony his immediate priority was to secure fuel distribution in the country.
"If there are any perpetrators smuggling fuel (out of the country), we'll just shoot them!," Widya said.
The rampant smuggling of the heavily subsidized fuel to neighboring countries has been blamed for fuel shortages at home.
"I have come here to improve Pertamina. I will make Pertamina the best company in this region (Southeast Asia)," Widya said, who said he had learned of his appointment via a hand phone text message from Laksamana.
After losing its decade-long monopoly and regulatory role, Pertamina recently changed its status into a limited liability company and will eventually compete with private industry in the oil and gas sector.
Widya, 50, started his career as a low-ranking employee at Indosat before becoming president of the company in 2002. He is the second president of Pertamina to come from outside the company.
Other new members appointed to the Pertamina's board are Muskito Saleh, in the new post of vice president, Hari Kustoro, the upstream director, and Suprijanto, the human resources and general affairs director.
Suroso Atmomartoyo and Arie Soemarno have been appointed as processing director and marketing director respectively. Arie, who is the brother of Minister of Trade and Industry Rini M Soewandi, is the president of Petral, the Singapore-based trading arm of Pertamina.