Heads roll at Pertamina, CEO axed

Pertamina CEO Dwi Soetjipto and Deputy President Director Ahmad Bambang were unexpectedly removed from their positions on Friday in a company shake-up.

The dismissals of Soetjipto and Ahmad Bambang were announced by the Indonesia’s Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, which said it had acted upon a “leadership problem.” Yenny Andayani has been appointed acting CEO

“The minister [of state-owned enterprises, Rini Mariani Soemarno] and board of commissioners have been watching the issue of leadership at Pertamina. We felt that internally we needed to continue to make improvements, so there needed to be a refreshment, Deputy Minister for State-Owned Enterprises Gatot Trihargo said on Friday.

Speaking to the press, Pertamina President Commissioner Tanri Abeng said the position of deputy president director had been eliminated effective immediately.

Pertamina spokesperson Wianda Pusponegoro said the company’s shareholders would decide on a replacement for Soetjipto.