Sriwijaya Air: Business Ties with Garuda Raises Corporate Debts

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The advocate of Sriwijaya Air, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, spoke up about the dispute between his client and Garuda Indonesia. According to him, one of the causes was due to an inefficient partnership.

“Sriwijaya deems that Garuda’s domination had gone too far, so Sriwijaya perceives that the partnership that initially aimed at increasing its capability to pay debts to several SOEs turns out to be not efficient,” said Yusril at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs office, Jakarta, Thursday, November 7.

Yusril reiterated that after the MoU was inked, Sriwijaya was required to conduct the maintenance in Garuda Maintenance Facility, while in fact, the airliner could carry it out independently. Thus, they spent a higher maintenance cost.

Additionally, the policy on the crew accommodation that was previously set at a dormitory was relocated to a hotel. “So Sriwijaya observed that instead of trimming the debt, the deficit was arising under the management of Garuda,” Yusril added.

The dispute escalated when the joint operation scheme (KSO) was replaced with management partnership, in which Garuda imposed a 50 percent management fee and a 65 profit-sharing from Garuda. The figure was calculated from the corporate’s gross income. As a result, Sriwijaya was threatened to go bankruptcy.

“So, what is the actual purpose of this [partnership]: saving Sriwijaya or destroying it instead?” Yusril said.

Meanwhile, after the meeting facilitated by the government, Garuda Indonesia president director I Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra and VP Corporate Secretary M. Ikhsan Rosan were tight-lipped when asked about the partnership with Sriwijaya Air.

CAESAR AKBAR