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fter repeatedly denying such claims, the Defense Ministry on Monday acknowledged that it used a broker company in the controversial purchase of six Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets.

During a hearing at the House of Representatives’ Commission I for defense, intelligence and foreign affairs, Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said that PT Trimarga Rekatama was involved in the deal to provide “administrative assistance” to the sophisticated procurement process.

“We [the Defense Ministry] will make some corrections in our administration to hinder misunderstanding. I can assure you that the agent was not involved in the purchasing process. We don’t buy [the Sukhoi] from Trimarga Rekatama,” Sjafrie said.

According to the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), Trimarga is owned by businessman Eng Jin Tjong, who is a family friend of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Last December, the government proceeded with the purchase of six Sukhoi Su-30MKKs, worth US$470 million, to complete the Air Force’s Sukhoi squadron. However, critics and lawmakers claimed the price for the six jets was only $328.8 million.

The Defense Ministry claimed that the excess funding was allocated for the purchase of 12 Sukhoi engines and to finance training of 10 Indonesian pilots. But, according to lawmakers, only $84.5 million was spent for the engines and pilot training, while the remaining $56.7 million has been left unaccounted for.

Suspicion is rife over a mark up in the purchase and the involvement of a broker that has caused the prices of the Sukhoi to be more expensive than previously thought.

Since the late-1960s, the military has often used third-parties for the purchase of arms instead of dealing directly with manufacturers or official agents. The practice has somehow survived and has caused the procurement costs to be inflated by more than 30 percent of the original prices.

Numerous reports have said the brokers would normally give a cut to generals and high-ranking officials involved in the deal.

Commission I member Helmy Fauzi from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and several other lawmakers questioned an advertisement by the Defense Ministry in a national newspaper that clearly mentioned Trimarga Rekatama as the agent in the Sukhoi deal.

“We have to thank the ministry for its transparency through the advertisement, but this has revealed to the public that the company was directly appointed,” Helmy said.

“I believe the government has supposedly made a profit-sharing [arrangement] with the company in the deal.”

Helmy said that if the deal was done on a government-to-government basis, the ministry should have executed the deal with Rosoboronexport, the Russian state company authorized to sell the jets. The firm has an office in Jakarta.

Commission I chairman Mahfudz Siddiq asked the ministry to review the deal by using the remaining $700 million worth of the export-loan facility provided by the Russian government for the Sukhoi purchases.

He added that a representative from Russian Embassy told him that Russia actually wanted Indonesia to use the state credit.

“The loan is cheaper than paying with direct cash from the state budget. This step should be taken immediately as it would soon expire,” he said.