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The
Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Sukanto
Tanoto may seem to have had nothing but good
intentions when in 1999 he relinquished his
majority stake in the ailing Unibank, giving
the bank a second chance with new owners. But
it has backfired. Questions surfaced about his
motive for giving up control, after Bank Indonesia
closed Unibank on Monday. Unibank's closure
left behind some US$230 million in unpaid export
facilities with no owner taking responsibility
for disbursing them. The loans were channeled
into pulp and wood-based business group Raja
Garuda Mas (RGM). At that time Unibank was run
by Sukanto, the owner of RGM. Bank Indonesia
has said that even though Sukanto no longer
had a minority stake in Unibank, he was responsible
for the unpaid loans. Sukanto's lawyer Alamsyah
Hanafiah rejects this claim.
"He (Sukanto) is not part of the management,
not on the board of commissioners and he is
not a shareholder; legally there is no link
to the bank," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday
night. Now with no one to held accountable,
the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA),
which has handled Unibank's closure, faces difficulties
in recouping public funds to be used to cover
the bank's third party liabilities. The liabilities
amount to some Rp 3.1 trillion, which the government
will pay out to Unibank's clients under a blanket
guarantee scheme. The assumption of responsibility
for the loans by Sukanto is seen as vital to
allow IBRA to seize his assets and use them
as collateral for the unpaid loans. His exit
in 1999 gave way for new owners whose identities
were, according to local news reports, unknown
to Bank Indonesia. Some suspect, the new owners
were just acting as a front for Sukanto to get
rid of his stake in the distressed bank.
Born in Belawan, North Sumatra in 1949, Sukanto
Tanoto alias Lim Sui Hang is one of the founders
of the RGM business empire. The group, originally
a pulp and wood-based business, has numerous
forestry concessions and pulp and paper operations.
RGM later expanded into textiles, palm oil,
banking and financial services. In 1997, Sukanto
was said to rank among the 100 richest men in
Asia.
One
of his well known businesses is the publicly
listed PT Indorayon Utama Inti, a pulp producer
whose operation in Sumatra ran into trouble
with locals. RGM is known among the international
finance community as Asia Pacific Resources
International Holding Ltd (APRIL). In an uncannily
similar scenario to the now heavily-indebted
Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), the Singapore-based
APRIL went public at the New York Stock Exchange
raising $150 million for its expansion plans.
Supplied with fresh capital, APRIL set up PT
Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP), PT Riau
Andalan Kertas, and PT Riau Prima Energi in
Riau.
The three firms took up new loans amounting
to $2.1 billion, of which $2 billion were lent
under a syndicate of local banks. Of these loans,
some $220 million turned sour. They were transferred
to IBRA, along with debts of $70 million from
other businesses of Sukanto. A 1999 debt restructuring
deal between APRIL and its creditors, faltered
as pulp prices remained sluggish. One analyst
said the restructuring was simply flawed, ignoring
the slump in the pulp industry. Now concerns
run high about the adverse impact APRIL's debts
might have on its lenders. Among them are Bank
Mandiri, Bank Universal and Bank Negara Indonesia
(BNI). Sukanto and his lawyer, Alamsyah, could
not be reached for comment.
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