Roche rules out withdrawal from RI despite legal fiasco
Roche rules out withdrawal from RI despite legal fiasco
JAKARTA (JP): Multinational pharmaceutical company PT Roche Indonesia dismissed on Wednesday any possibility of pulling out of Indonesia even if it loses an appeal of a controversial Rp 281 billion (about US$33 million) fine at the Jakarta High Court.
"Even if our appeal is rejected, Roche will not leave Indonesia," Roche president Dieter Garbade announced on Wednesday.
He stressed that Roche would continue to strive in its legal battles against its distributor, adding that a prospect for finally winning the case was still high.
The South Jakarta District Court issued a verdict in late May that Roche was liable for Rp 281 billion in compensation to its distributor, PT Perusahaan Dagang Tempo, due to a breach of contract.
The verdict, however, is not executable in advance, and Roche does not have to comply with the ruling until the final level of appeal, which is at the Supreme Court, has gone through.
Roche defended and filed an appeal at the Jakarta High Court, claiming there was never an illegal breach of contract as the distribution agreement clearly stipulates that termination is allowable.
Garbade said the May ruling by the South Jakarta Court was the second blow to his company after the same court last year ordered an injunction (a preliminary verdict) to sequester Roche's assets, which include: its land and factory in Cimanggis, Bogor; its machines and all manufacturing equipment on the land and in the factory; as well as spare parts and half-finished goods there.
"We are disappointed about what has happened. However, we will stay," he said, adding that Roche came to Indonesia for a long- term business commitment.
Garbade said Roche was still holding to its original plan it made in 1996 to expand its factory in Cimanggis, West Java, despite the legal trouble the company was currently experiencing.
"We will expand our factory as soon as the economic condition here gets better and prices start to pick up again," he said, adding that the company still had much idle area on the nine- hectare land, which the South Jakarta Court had put a sequestration order on.
The sequestration order will take effect, or be executed, if Roche's appeal at the Jakarta High Court is rejected, said Roche's lawyer Timbul Thomas Lubis from Lubis, Ganie and Surowidjojo law firm.(udi)