Aditya Hadi, Jakarta – The government has begun transferring its shares in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to a newly designated holding company, PT Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia (BKI).
Originally a state-owned surveyor company, BKI has been restructured to serve as the super-holding entity for all Indonesian SOEs under the newly established sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia.
PT BKI and the entities underneath it have been embroiled in a series of corruption scandals in recent years involving palm oil plantations and procurement for fictitious projects, among other issues.
Given the company's troubled past, its designation as Danantara's operational holding has drawn criticism, particularly amid a separate set of corruption cases involving state-owned enterprises emerging in the first few months of President Prabowo Subianto's administration.
Four publicly listed state-run banks – PT Bank Mandiri, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, PT Bank Negara Indonesia and PT Bank Tabungan Negara – have announced that the government's stakes in their businesses, ranging from 50 to 60 percent, had been moved to BKI as of March 22.
They cited the revised SOE Law and Government Regulation No. 15/2025 as the legal basis for the transfer.
Despite the shift, the government retains a single Series A Dwiwarna share in each company, granting it special privileges through the SOE Ministry.
Several infrastructure SOEs, including PT Adhi Karya, PT PP, as well as heavily indebted PT Wijaya Karya and PT Waskita Karya, have also had the government's stakes in their businesses, which ranged between 51 to 91 percent, transferred to the new holding firm.
Others also followed suit, including PT Semen Indonesia, toll road operator PT Jasa Marga, steelmaker PT Krakatau Steel, telecommunications giant PT Telkom Indonesia and flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia.
"PT BKI will become an operational holding company and will review issues related to the company's finances and operations," Garuda said in a letter to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on Wednesday.
"The [...] transactions are expected to provide better access to resources and capital to enable business expansion and growth," it added.
Additionally, PT Danareksa, an SOE managing assets across finance, media, technology, construction and industrial parks, including the recently designated special economic zone (SEZ) Batang Integrated Industrial Zone (KITB), now has 99.9 percent of its shares controlled by BKI.
Danantara itself has two distinct functions, namely consolidating all SOEs, which it did through BKI as an operational holding, and managing investment funds, including those derived from SOE dividends, through a separate investment holding.
President Prabowo Subianto has appointed Investment and Downstream Minister Rosan Roeslani as Danantara's CEO and Deputy SOE Minister Dony Oskaria as chief operating officer to oversee the operational holding.
The board also includes current and former executives from the World Bank, state-owned Bank Mandiri and the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA), the nation's other sovereign wealth fund. Analysts see these appointments as an effort to address concerns over government interference but caution that the fund's success will depend more on its execution than the prominence of its board members.
Meanwhile, entrepreneur Pandu Sjahrir, a nephew of National Economic Council chairman and former coordinating minister Luhut Pandjaitan, will serve as chief investment officer to manage the investment holding.
"Once we consolidate all SOEs under the operational holding, we will remap their structure and review existing holding companies," Dony said at a press conference on March 24, when asked about the future of current SOE holding companies in sectors such as mining and tourism.