TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir has removed Zulkifli Zaini from his position as president director of PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) or President Director of PLN. Erick denied that Zulkifli was fired because he was said to have not approved the acquisition of an electric car from Germany’s StreetScooter GmbH in the Odin Project.
Erick also denied that Zulkifli was fired because he was threatened by a member of the DPR’s Energy Commission, Muhammad Nasir. Nasir at that time asked Zulkifli to be removed due to the problem of purchasing coal by PLN.
“All is well, it’s nothing,” said Erick Thohir when met at Sarinah, Central Jakarta, Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Previously, Zulkifli’s removal was carried out at the General Meeting of Shareholders or PLN’s GMS on December 6, 2021. Zulkifli was then replaced by his deputy, Darmawan Prasodjo.
The StreetScooter issue was revealed in a report from Tempo Magazine, November 20, 2021 edition, entitled “The Minister’s Odin Project”. StreetScooter is a subsidiary of Duetsche Post AG from Germany, or better known as Deutsche Post DHL Group.
The acquisition is planned to be carried out by Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC). This is a joint venture of PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum aka Mind Id, PT Pertamina (Persero), PLN, and PT Aneka Tambang Tbk.
However, a Tempo source said that Mind Id, under Orias President Director Petrus Moedak, had been sacked first and PLN under Zulkifli Zaini had not yet agreed to the Odin Project. This report states that an official who is familiar with the planned transaction said that the basis for the rejection of the old management of Mind Id and PLN was an oddity in the technical aspects of the Odin Project.
Due diligence carried out by Ricardo, an IBC consultant for technical aspects, one of which found that there was a discontinuation of the supply of steering gear to StreetScooter, so it was necessary to find a new supplier that had to be tested, validated, and re-certified.
Dany Amrul Ichdan, the only former director of Mind Id who was not removed, said that all the risks and mitigations found by the consultant had been included in the discounting factor in the due diligence calculation and became the basis for the acquisition decision.
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