he government is set to convert its non-performing bonds in petrochemical company PT Tuban Petrochemical Industries (TPI) into shares, which will be owned by state-energy holding company Pertamina.
TPI is the holding company of PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI), said Pertamina acting president director Nicke Widyawati on Wednesday.
“We will buy the shares to optimize its assets and help us enter the petrochemical industry,” she said after attending a meeting with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and State-owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister.
The bond, which will fell due six years ago, is worth Rp 3.2 trillion ($218 million), according to some reports.
Currently, Pertamina holds 41 percent of TPI shares and will increase its ownership to 51 percent.
Pertamina will use TPPI’s assets to refine crude oil into fuel and also produce petrochemicals, Nicke said.
She said that in addition to the existing assets, Pertamina will expand the factory to increase its production capacity, which was currently at around 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).
TPPI was hit by corruption in 2009 when the company collaborated with now-defunct Upstream Oil and Gas Executive Agency (BPMigas) to market condensate in Indonesia.
In May 2015, the National Police raided the offices of TPPI and SKKMigas in Jakarta. Several officials from both institutions were named money-laundering suspects. The state losses were estimated to reach US$156 million. (bbn)
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