Jakarta –
President Director of Garuda Indonesia Irfan Setiaputra is quite optimistic that the debt restructuring process being pursued by the company will be successful. Although, it took a long time because there were 800 creditors and lessors to deal with.
Irfan said that he had submitted a restructuring proposal scheme to lessors and creditors as an effort to restore performance. He did not deny the various responses received.
“Some are cranky, some are angry, some are kind, ‘don’t worry about your debt, we’ll talk about it later’, there are various kinds because we have 800 creditors,” said Irfan in the Outspoken program. detik.com which airs Monday (22/11/2021).
In order for lessors and creditors to accept Garuda’s proposal for debt negotiations, management tried to convince him by telling him about the future business plan. Irfan said that Garuda’s business will be profitable because various activities that cause losses will be abandoned.
“In order to convince them that ‘oh it’s worth it, I accept Garuda’s proposal because Garuda will be like this.’ you know this Garuda,” he explained.
Irfan said creditors did not have much choice in rejecting the restructuring of Garuda. The reason is that if Garuda goes bankrupt, it is likely that they will not get any share of the proceeds from the sale of assets.
“The two sides of Garuda and the 800 creditors must reach an agreement, because otherwise they will be bankrupt. If Garuda goes bankrupt or goes bankrupt, its assets are sold. because the value of our assets is small and airlines are by definition small assets,” he explained.
“So sometimes these creditors don’t have a good choice, it’s better to accept Garuda’s proposal rather than Garuda going bankrupt,” he added.
So far, Irfan sees the restructuring process as positive. The negotiation process with the lessors is said to have been carried out since last year, with the result that the state-owned airline could save Rp 2 trillion in 2020.
“Many people don’t know that Garuda has saved IDR 2 trillion a year as a result of last year’s negotiations. It’s just that both our parties and the lessor think that 2021 conditions will improve, but it doesn’t and the debt will pile up,” he explained.
For information, Garuda is recorded to have debts of US$ 9.75 billion or Rp. 138.45 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,200) in relation to the implementation of Financial Accounting Standards Regulation (PSAK) 73. With the long-standing cooperation, Irfan believes that lessors and creditors can understand the condition of Garuda which has not paid its obligations.
“Out of the US$ 9.7 (billion), US$ 5.5 (billion) is actually future debt, so the figure for US$ 9.75 (billion) is huge. As long as under normal conditions, Garuda will pay it continuously, when In this pandemic, Garuda can’t afford to pay. I think we know their position, they also know our position. It’s just a matter of looking for formulas, words and agreements that can be reached,” he explained.
(aid / das)
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