Pertamina not interested in taking over Chandra Asri

Pertamina rules out the possibility of taking over the country's largest petrochemical company PT Chndra Asri which has been transferred to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) after its shareholders failed to pay its loan to state banks, Satunet.com reported on Saturday.

"We are not interested in taking over the troubled company. It has a problem and now is under IBRA contgrol," Pertamina's president Baihaki Hakim said in a press conference on Monday.

Baihaki said that Pertamina would be better to take over PT Tuban, the petrochemical company owned by Hashim Djoyohadikusumo, which offers much promising outlook.

Chandra Asri, owned by a number of business tycoons including Prayogo Pangestu and former president Soeharto's son Bambang Triatmodjo has been put under the custody of IBRA after its major shareholders failed to repay their debts to state owned banks. (*)