Soeharto 'disallowed imports by Pertamina'

JAKARTA (JP): An official hinted yesterday that the decade- long monopoly over fuel and crude oil imports held by companies controlled by Soeharto's family and cronies had been granted on the order of the former president himself.

Chief of the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) Soedarjono said yesterday the body had once proposed to the House of Representatives that Pertamina be allowed to import fuel and crude oil itself to increase efficiency instead of hiring brokers, but that Soeharto rejected the proposal.

"'That's my responsibility' the (then) president (Soeharto) said. As a government agency, we felt it was no longer our responsibility to pursue that matter (monopoly) further," Soedarjono was quoted by Antara as saying at a news conference.

The news conference was held following public calls to dissolve the comptroller since it has been considered ineffective given the rampant corruption, collusion and nepotism during Soeharto's 32-year term as president.

The comptroller, which is in charge of auditing state finances as well as state companies, is also seen as redundant since many of its responsibilities overlap with the Supreme Audit Agency.

Soedarjono did not specify when the proposal to the House was made but said it was suggested by Gandhi who headed BPKP between 1983 and 1993.

Pertamina has been obliged for decades to import crude oil and fuel products through Perta Oil Marketing Ltd. and crude oil from Permindo Oil Trading Co. Ltd.

Pertamina president Soegianto recently said in a letter to the House that Perta was 30 percent owned by Pertamina, 20 percent by Pertamina's pension fund, 25 percent by the Nusamba Group and 25 percent by Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra, alias Tommy. Nusamba, controlled by Soeharto's friend Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, also includes foundations owned by Soeharto.

Permindo is 35 percent owned by Pertamina and 65 percent owned by Mindo Petroleum. Mindo is owned by Bambang Trihatmodjo with a 14.1 percent stake, Soeharto's cousin Sudwikatmono (20.6 percent), Soeharto's son-in-law Indra Rukmana (14.1 percent), Nirwan Bakrie (22.8 percent), Syarief Sutardjo (7.6 percent), Mohammad Tachriel Sapi'ie (7.1 percent), Rosano Barack (7.1 percent) and Aminusal Amien (6.6 percent).

Tachriel Sap'ie recently replaced Bambang as the president of the Bimantara Group.

Indonesia, though a petroleum exporting country, imports between 15 percent and 20 percent of its annual fuel consumption of 52 million kiloliters due to the limited capacity of Pertamina's refineries.

Pertamina also imports about 70 million barrels of crude oil, mainly from the Middle East, to feed its refineries.

Soegianto said Perta and Permindo received a commission of 10 U.S. cents per barrel from Pertamina alone.

Pertamina is planning to form a trading division to import fuel and crude oil itself.

Perta and Permindo also reportedly enjoys the exclusive rights to export Pertamina's crude oil to all destinations, except for Japan, which is the largest importing country for Indonesian crude oil.

The crude oil export to Japan is handled by Pacific Petroleum Marketing Ltd., which is equally owned by Pertamina and a Japanese business group that buys the crude oil. (jsk)