JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said that PT Pertamina's (Persero) special assignment policy in the purchase and investment of energy from the United States could lead to corruption if it did not have a strong legal footing. A study has been made to carry out the monitoring function.
This was conveyed by the Chairman of the KPK Setyo Budiyanto in a coordination meeting with Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto; Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Yuliot Tanjung; Minister of Foreign Affairs Arif Havas Oegroseno; to Minister of Trade Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri today, January 14.
"Based on the results of the study, the fundamental findings of this extraordinary policy are not based on a strong foundation because they are only based on a joint statement and have not been translated into binding legal instruments," said Setyo as quoted from the official written statement of the institution.
This condition, said Setyo, has the potential to pose a serious risk if it is not followed up. "Without strong legal instruments and clarity on reciprocal tariffs, the risk of corruption and legal uncertainty in the energy sector is a real threat to state finances," said the former KPK Investigation Director.
In addition, the Corruption Risk Assessment (CRA) conducted by the KPK also mapped a number of problems in the draft Presidential Regulation (Perpres) prepared by the government. One of them, related to restrictions on crude oil suppliers which are only open to holders of memorandums of understanding with Pertamina.
"This risks killing healthy competition and creating special treatment, so it is vulnerable to price collusion," said the acting deputy for Prevention and Monitoring of the KPK, Herda Helmijaya, on the same occasion.
The spotlight was also given to the indicators of the success of the assignment of energy imports and investments from or in the US. The value of energy imports of 15 billion US dollars listed in the joint statement, according to the KPK, has not been accompanied by measurable achievement criteria while the trade balance is generally calculated annually.
Then, the KPK also examined the plan to form a task force (Satgas) to support the assignment, which was considered to have the potential to weaken accountability and expand the room for discretion if it was not accompanied by an objective and documented decision-making mechanism from the beginning. On the other hand, the provisions of product specifications and subsidy mechanisms in the draft Presidential Regulation are considered not to be fully in line with applicable regulations.
"Currently, tariff negotiations between Indonesia and the US are still ongoing. If agreed, the government will follow up by issuing derivative rules, both in the form of PP and Perpres," said Herda.
As previously reported, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said there were a number of discussions with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) after a closed meeting. Not only about energy, the matter of aircraft purchases based on a reciprocal tariff agreement was also discussed in a meeting with the KPK.
The KPK, continued Airlangga, has also evaluated the Presidential Regulation (Perpres) that will be issued to follow up on the agreement.
To note, Indonesia has agreed on a reciprocal tariff of 19 percent. However, the agreement was accompanied by heavy non-tariff concessions, such as easing the rules on the Domestic Component Level (TKDN), the elimination of the ban on the export of critical minerals, and the obligation to purchase US energy and agricultural products.
The agreement puts Indonesian exports in an unfavorable position. In terms of tariffs, the figure of 19 percent is equivalent to Malaysia (19 percent) and not far from Vietnam (20 percent). However, Indonesia is less competitive in terms of logistics costs and must provide much larger non-tariff concessions.
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