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State-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia
will begin operating again next week after obtaining a copy of the Oct.
22 Supreme Court verdict throwing out a bankruptcy ruling against the
company.
Managing director Budi Santoso said Friday his company would
renegotiate a canceled purchase order for six CN-235 planes placed by a
Middle Eastern country.
"On the day the bankruptcy decision was handed down, we were
negotiating with guests from the Middle East to determine the price and
the dates of delivery.
"However, we failed to strike a deal due to the verdict," said Budi,
who was accompanied by corporate lawyer Puguh Nugroho, during a press
conference in Bandung, West Java.
In addition to seeking new purchase orders and aircraft component
production deals from overseas, Budi said the management would also
rearrange long-term business and debt rescheduling plans drawn up by
the curator.
A curator was appointed to manage the company's assets after the
bankruptcy ruling by the Central Jakarta Commercial Court.Budi said PT
DI's biggest debts were to asset management company PT Perusahaan
Pengelola Aset (PPA), amounting to US$56 million.
The Supreme Court annulled the Commercial Court's bankruptcy decision
against the company, which was issued on Sept. 4 after the court ruled
PT DI was unable to pay off its debts to lenders.
The bankruptcy petition against the aircraft manufacturer was filed by
about 6,500 former employees who were dismissed in 2003 after the
company suffered serious financial problems as the result of the
financial crisis in late 1997.
Meanwhile, director for corporate banking at Bank Mandiri, Abdul
Rachman, said the bank was ready to help PT DI cope with its financial
problems.
"We can provide around Rp 500 billion (US$54 million) to Rp 1 trillion
in fresh loans," Abdul said.He said PT DI had been a Bank Mandiri
customer for a long time, with the bank providing more than Rp 3
trillion in credit
facilities to the company.
"We continue to be DI's bank after the monetary crisis. The company
guarantees 100 percent in cash all the credits that we give, including
bank guarantees and letters of credits," he said.
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