Kerry Riza Emphasizes Riza Chalid Does Not Know about the Fuel Terminal Business with Pertamina

JAKARTA - Beneficial owner of PT Orbit Terminal Merak (OTM) Muhamad Kerry Adrianto Riza revealed the chronology of acquiring the fuel terminal owned by PT Oiltanking Merak until it was leased by PT Pertamina (Persero).

This was conveyed by Kerry Riza when he was presented as a witness to the trial of the alleged corruption in the management of oil and refinery products of PT Pertamina with the defendant, former President Director of PT Pertamina Patra Niaga Alfian Nasution and former Marketing and Sales Director of Pertamina Hanung Budya Yuktyanta at the Jakarta Corruption Court, Tuesday, March 31.

Kerry Riza revealed that at that time, his colleague, Dani Subrata, explained the plan of Oiltanking GmBH and PT Merak Terminal Mandiri to sell its shares in PT Oiltanking Merak. Dani Subrata, who is also the owner of shares in PT Oiltanking Merak (PT Merak Terminal Mandiri), conveyed the uniqueness of the fuel terminal owned by PT Oiltanking Merak.

"After I knew it, he (Dani Subrata) explained 'Nice Ker, the tank is international standard, it's really good', that's it. Well, let's try, sir, I'll buy it together. Okay, let's go, it's 2013 early, "said Kerry.

Kerry admitted that he had never discussed with his father Riza Chalid and his uncle Irawan Prakoso regarding the plan to acquire shares in PT Oiltanking Merak.

"Regarding this acquisition talk, have you ever discussed or talked to Mr. Irawan Prakoso?" asked the prosecutor.

"Never," Kerry replied.

"With the parents of your brother Mr. Riza Chalid?"

"Never. Never," Kerry said.

However, Kerry admitted that Riza Chalid became a personal guarantee for the funding of the acquisition. Kerry explained, at that time, the BRI party asked for a personal guarantee.

"So that was a request from BRI. Because BRI asked me to meet my father like that. At that time I met the notary as well," he explained.

At that time, Riza Chalid only knew about Kerry's plan to cooperate with Pertamina. Riza Chalid only prayed that his son's business would go smoothly.

"Brother, tell Pak Riza Chalid that after this acquisition, it will be leased or cooperated with PT Pertamina?" asked the prosecutor.

"Yes, I briefly told the story. His response was 'Insyaallah lancar', that's it," he said.

Kerry explained that the acquisition plan was his personal initiative with Dani Subrata. Kerry also partnered with a partner from Singapore, a company incorporated in Hong Kong, namely Oro Storage (HK) Limited. After the acquisition process, Kerry and Dani Subrata through PT Tangki Merak became majority shareholders with a composition of 90% (Dani Subrata 30% and Kerry 70%), and Oro Storage (HK) Limited 10% in PT Oiltanking Merak (which was later renamed PT Orbit Terminal Merak in 2015).

Before being leased by Pertamina, Kerry said, the fuel terminal owned by PT OTM had been offered to a number of other companies. Some of them are Petronas, Shell, and others. However, the only one that responded at that time was Pertamina.

This was followed up by the President Director of PT OTM, Gading Ramadhan Joedo and his staff. Kerry himself admitted that he had never had any contact with the parties from the Pertamina Supply and Distribution Division which handles the fuel terminal.

"If I never interacted with what party it is, right, if I'm with the shipping, sir. If that's what it's called, what's the part? Supply and distribution. That's the Supply and Distribution Division, I don't know anyone there. So who followed up and continued the correspondence was Mr. Gading. Because my friends are all in shipping," he explained.

Kerry admitted that he had met Hanung in an event held by former Pertamina President Director Karen Agustiawan. However, at that time, the meeting was just a glance and there was no communication at all.

"No, I honestly forgot how I met him. I just greeted him like that. That's what I remember, sir. I forgot it was a long time ago," he said.

Kerry also confirmed that there was no communication between Irawan Prakoso and Hanung regarding the rental of the PT OTM fuel terminal.

"Beyond that, do you know that there is no information that Mr. Irawan Prakoso's brother has communicated with Mr. Hanung?" asked the prosecutor.

"No," Kerry replied.

After the trial, Kerry emphasized that this trial process strengthened the absence of Mohamad Riza Chalid's intervention through Irawan Prakoso to Pertamina to rent the PT OTM fuel terminal. In addition to Kerry, it is known that the prosecutor presented Irawan Prakoso as a witness in today's trial. In his testimony, Irawan confirmed that there was no intervention in the process of renting the terminal.

"I heard that at the trial, Mr. Irawan said that there was no order to Hanung or Alfian, or coercion, yes, that this OTM must be used by Pertamina. So there was no coercion to Mr. Alfian and Mr. Hanung. So where is the wrong in this matter? This matter is not wrong," he said.

Kerry emphasized that the PT OTM fuel terminal is still being used by PT Pertamina until now. In fact, without the terminal, Pertamax reserves will be reduced by three days.

"Without OTM, Pertamax's operational reserves will be reduced by three days. This means that OTM is very important for our national energy resilience," he said.

Moreover, said Kerry, the government plans to build other fuel tanks to strengthen energy resilience. This proves that the PT OTM fuel terminal is beneficial to the country.

"The fact is that we are currently short of tanks, because in the news it says that the government plans to build more tanks. This means that OTM is beneficial for the country," he said.

On that basis, Kerry admitted that he was harmed by the alleged corruption case in oil governance which made him a defendant. According to him, the judge only relied on the minutes of the examination (BAP) in imposing a 15-year prison sentence on him.

"The judge decided to use BAP. Shouldn't the judge use the facts of the trial, right? Well, so I feel very disadvantaged from this. The judge, in my opinion, is very unprofessional, except for Mr. Mulyono who made a dissenting opinion," he said.

For this reason, Kerry hopes that the panel of judges at the Jakarta High Court can provide justice in deciding on the appeal he filed.

"So my hope is that, with this fact, in the high court I can get justice, yes, that there is no coercion to hire OTM. And OTM is really needed for the country," he hoped.