By Yandhrie Arvian and Venny Melyani
After two decades of traveling the world, tycoon Lakshmi Mittal intends to invest again in Indonesia. There is a conspiracy to push the sale of Krakatau Steel to a strategic partner.
THE Gulfstream G550 jet landed smoothly at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta, one Thursday dawn two weeks ago. Flying from Bangkok, the US$36-million plane (Rp330 billion) was carrying a special guest: Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, the fourth richest man in the world.
Lakshmi wasn’t alone. The Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal got off the plane with his son, Aditya Mittal, 32. They were accompanied by Roland Verstappen and Ondra Otradovec. In the giant world steel company, Aditya is chief financial officer. Roland and Ondra are Vice President for International Affairs and Vice President for Mergers & Acquisitions, respectively.
Coming to Jakarta with his officials, Lakshmi has a big agenda. The man who according to Forbes magazine is worth US$45 billion (Rp412 trillion) attempted to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. “He wanted to ask for permission to invest again in Indonesia,” said Maxi Gunawan, Co-Chairman of the Indonesian-British Business Council, last week.
A Tempo source revealed that, after greeting some of this staff who had been waiting at Halim, Lakshmi headed for the Four Seasons Hotel, located in Jalan Rasuna Said, Kuningan, where he and Aditya rested in the presidential suite, the most luxurious room at US$4,200 (Rp38 million) per night. The 550 square meters covering the entire sixth floor is equipped with a special elevator to the underground parking lot.
The next morning, Lakshmi and his team had breakfast in the dining room of the presidential suite. Minister for Industry Fahmi Idris, Director-General of Metal, Machinery, Textile & Various Industries, Ansari Bukhari, and Maxi Gunawan joined them. While eating omelets, fruits, and sipping melon juice, Lakshmi and Fahmi discussed topics from the national steel industry to the macroeconomic situation. “But no discussions on investments yet,” said Maxi. “He’ll not say anything until he’s spoken with the President.”
Scheduled for 2pm, Lakshmi’s group didn’t meet President Yudhoyono at the State Palace until almost dusk. Meeting for half an hour, Lakshmi initially spoke about Ispat Indo, his first steelworks built in Kedung Turi, Sidoarjo, East Java, in 1976. For nearly 14 years, Lakshmi spent his life there, before finally purchasing many steelworks in various corners of the world. He then told of his steelworks currently scattered in 61 countries.
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