Pertamina to continue restructuring

Pertamina to continue restructuring

JAKARTA (JP): The newly installed president of state-owned oil
and gas company Pertamina, Soegianto, pledged yesterday to
continue and give priority to the company's ongoing restructuring
program.

Soegianto, 67, said Pertamina's new board of directors would
continue restructuring and streamlining the company's operations.

"Pertamina's restructuring will last at least five years. So
the new directors will continue the program," he told Antara
after his inauguration ceremony.

On the tightening of the company's workforce, he said
Pertamina had reduced its employees from 46,000 to 30,000 in the
past two years.

"We will conduct further evaluations whether or not we need to
reduce more employees," he said.

Rumors on the promotion of Soegianto to the company's top
position had been spreading for the past two months, with the
expire of Faisal Abda'oe's second term.

Soegianto, who began his career with Pertamina in 1960,
replaced Faisal as finance director in 1988 when the latter was
sworn-in as the company's president. Faisal was Pertamina's
second-longest serving president after Ibnu Sutowo.

At yesterday's inauguration ceremony, Minister of Mines and
Energy I.B Sudjana also swore in six directors -- Priyambodo
Mulyosudirdjo as director of exploration and production, Samto
Utomo as director of exploitation, Hadi Nugroho as director of
supply and local marketing, Ilham Syarif as director of shipping
and communications, Hadi Sudibyo as director of finance and Hadi
Daryono as director of general affairs.

Sudjana, in his speech, expressed hope that Pertamina would be
able to cope with the world's economic recession which had caused
Indonesia's own economic crisis.

"In facing this situation, we should not be pessimistic and
consider the problem very difficult to solve. We have to take
every opportunity in making strategic moves for the future," he
said.

He also called on Pertamina's new board of directors to keep
investment in the oil and gas sector attractive to investors to
boost the country's oil and gas production.

He urged Pertamina to increase the production of its
refineries by cooperating with the private sector.

He also urged the company to enhance its performance through
an efficiency program. (gis)