Former President Director Of Pertamina Suspect Of KPK, Erick Thohir Alludes To Cleaning Up SOEs

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir alluded to the cleaning of SOEs after the eyes of Pertamina President Director Karen Agustiawan who was named a suspect in alleged corruption in the procurement of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) 2011-2021.

He said, in the era of his leadership as Minister of SOEs, the BUMN cleaning movement had been launched since 2019.

He continues to encourage state-owned companies to carry out good corporate governance and transpran.

"I don't want to discredit anyone, but from the start when I was trusted to be given the mandate of the President as his assistant, transforming SOEs from the start I said there must be a BUMN cleaning program, this program was not only characterized with the AKHLAK foundation, but also GCG," he said at the State Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday, September 20.

Erick highlighted the time of the alleged corruption committed by Karen Agustiawan.

He said this happened before he was given the mandate by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) as Minister of SOEs.

Furthermore, Erick admitted that many corruption cases were linked to him. Even so, Erick ensured that state-owned companies in his leadership era were transparent.

"Right now things like this are reversed and it's as if all of this is why. I'm sure in my time, I'm trying to really take care of a more transparent and better system structure," he said.

On this occasion, Erick also mentioned that leaders in state-owned companies must be filled with the right people. Because, the company must make efficiency considering the current business competition is getting tighter.

"We encourage (efficiency), why? It is impossible for this global competition, SOEs not to make efficiency, but to be transparent and choose the right person to lead," he said.

As previously reported, former President Director (Director) of PT Pertamina (Persero) Karen Agustiawan was detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). He became a suspect in alleged corruption in the procurement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at PT Pertamina (Persero) from 2011 to 2021.

"The investigative team detained the suspect GKK alias KA for the first 20 days," said KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri at a press conference at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Tuesday, September 19.

Firli said this case originated from a public report. Furthermore, the investigation was carried out until it finally went up to investigation after sufficient evidence was found.

Firli revealed that Karen's decision to procure LNG was taken by herself. "Without conducting a study to a thorough analysis and not reporting it to the Board of Commissioners of PT Pertamina Persero," he said.