Jakarta - The BUMN Watch has named 10 state-owned companies (BUMN) which had the best performance last year.

The ten are PT Bank BRI Tbk, telecommunication operator PT Telkom Tbk, cement maker PT Semen Gresik Tbk, fertilizer company PT Pusri, gas company PT PGN Tbk, steel maker PT Krakatau Steel, road building company PT Jasa Marga Tbk, mining company PT Aneka Tambang Tbk, shipping company PT Pelindo II and plantation company PT PTPN III.

Chief of the BUMN Watch Naldy Nazar Haroen said on Sunday the criteria of best state firms were based on many factors, particularly their accountability and responsibility.

To assess their performance, the BUMN Watch formed a team led by its secretary general Endang Sri Sarastri. During six months of working, the team monitored their activities and studied their progress reports delivered to the BUMN Watch.

Naldy said although the state firms' performance tended to improve, they had not been operating optimally, particularly in their role as development agents.

Citing an example, he said, BRI had not played an optimum role in assisting small and medium enterprises and cooperatives. The bank which raised less than Rp29 trillion in funds from villagers every year only extended Rp8 trillion to Rp9 trillion in loans to businesses in rural areas.

Most of the loans did not go to small and medium enterprises and cooperatives engaged in farm business but to large private  plantation companies, he said.

"BRI had recently even extended loans to Bakrie Land and Bosowa Group," he said.

As a state-owned company which played a role as a development agent and had branches in almost all parts of the country, BRI must give priority to the  development of small and medium enterprises and cooperatives, he said.

"The government must continue to intervene in this case. Otherwise, funds from rural areas will go to more promising private businesses," he said.

Most of the state firms had not been operating optimally as could be seen from their combined net profit last year, he said.

He said the country's 139 state firms which had total assets of Rp1,500 trillion to Rp1,600 trillion and engaged in different business fields posted a combined net profit of Rp71.59 trillion last year.

Most of the profit originated from 25 state firms, meaning that the presence of the other 114 state companies must be reviewed, he said.

He said state oil and gas company Pertamina topped the list of profit-making state firms last year, followed by PT Telkom Tbk, PT Bank Mandiri Tbk, PT Bank BRI Tbk, PT Bank BNI Tbk, PT PGN Tbk, PT Antam Tbk, PT Semen Gresik Tbk,  PT PPA (Persero), PT Bank BTN (Persero), PT Pelindo II and PT Jasa Rahardja.

He said the country's state enterprises had assets ranging from less than Rp100 billion to more than 300 trillion. Some of them posted a net profit of more than Rp20 trillion while others suffered a loss of up to Rp2 trillion per year.

- Source : Antara News Agency, 12 May 2008