Profile of Sukanto Tanoto, the palm oil king who bought the palace from the former German king Page all

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The name Sukanto Tanoto has been a topic of public conversation in the country since the last days. The palm oil king, who is on the list of the richest people in Indonesia, is said to have just bought a luxury property from the former palace of the German king.

Citing a document published by the international journalistic collaboration about the project OpenLux, the names of Sukanto Tanoto and his son Andre Tanoto, were mentioned in the illegal ownership of luxury buildings in Germany.

The document reveals that, in 2019, Andre Tanoto bought one of three luxury buildings designed by famous architect Frank O. Gehry in the economic center of Düsseldorf, the state capital of Nordrhein Westfalen (NRW).

The building was bought for 50 million euros (about 847 billion rupees). Soon after, Tanoto Sukanto bought the former palace of King Louis in Munich.

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The four-story building, which is now the headquarters of the Allianz insurance company in the prestigious Ludwigstrasse area. According to the documents OpenLux, the building was bought for 350 million euros or around 6 trillion rupees.

So who is really Sukanto Tanoto?

Quoted from report Forbes Magazine, Sukanto Tanoto is a regular in the ranks of the richest people in Indonesia. In 2020, his name was ranked among the 22 richest people in the country.

Sukanto Tanoto is a conglomerate owner of the Royal Golden Eagle International (RGEI) group of companies, formerly known as Raja Garuda Mas, based in Singapore.

Before its current size, Sukanto started its business in 1967 as a spare parts supplier and construction services entrepreneur for the oil industry.

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The RGEI business group is engaged in various industries, including the largest, namely the pulp and paper industry (Asia Pacific Resources International Holding Ltd or APRIL) and the oil palm plantation industry (Asian Agri and Apical).

Recorded Forbes, Sukanto Tanoto’s wealth reached 1.35 billion US dollars or about 19.07 trillion rupees. One of its greatest riches comes from the oil palm plantations under RGEI.

He is the king of the oil palm in Indonesia along with other big names like Anthony Salim, Martua Sitorus and Ciliandra Fangiono.

They are conglomerates that each control hundreds of thousands of hectares of oil palm plantations with CPO processing factories.

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New capital project

When the government was aggressively discussing the construction of a new capital city in East Kalimantan, the name Sukanto Tanoto was in the spotlight. This is because a large amount of land will be displaced by the new capital project at Penajam Paser Utara Regency.

Land tenure in Kaltim Sukanto Tanoto is under the banner of PT ITCI Hutani Manunggal (IHM) in Samboja District, Kutai Kartanegara District and Sepaku Semoi District, Penajam Paser Utara Regency.

PT IHM has been the main supplier of paper raw materials produced by APRIL Group, which also belongs to Sukanto Tanoto. The paper giant manages an area that is included in Industrial Forest Plantations (HTI).

East Kalimantan Governor Isran Noor confirmed that there is no problem with the lands belonging to PT ITCI Hutani Manunggal (IHM). This is because the state of the land is suitable for farming (HGU).

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“Tanoto’s land is HGH, if HGU has a time limit. It is only given to the community to use the area for business and there is a time period, if the new property does not have a time limit. Okay, no problem, “Isran said in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, in 2019.

According to Isran, the Tanoto-owned company covers an area of ​​around 30,000 hectares in the area. According to him, the concession period will end soon.

“Sukanto Tanoto is almost finished, a maximum of 10 years,” Isran said.

Meanwhile, APRIL Group’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Agung Laksamana, said that IHM is in fact a company that has a business relationship with APRIL.

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Agung said his party had just learned of the location of the relocation of the new capital in East Kalimantan from the media. Namely, when the president announced the location on August 26, 2019.

After the announcement, APRIL met with the National Development Planning Agency (Bappoco), which had been working on plans to relocate the capital city.

“We met with Bap recently to ask about the relocation location. And from the information we received, the location to choose was in the area of ​​IHM, which is a strategic supplier partner with a significant contribution to PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper ( RAPP), “Agung explained when he chatted with Kompas.com.

Explanation of Bapuelve

The central government itself said that businessman Sukanto Tanoto already knew the consequences of having land grant rights in East Kalimantan.

The Sukanto Tanoto land grant is included in the land area that will be used as the location of the new capital city in East Kalimantan, precisely at North Penajam Paser Regency.

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“It is an industrial plantation concession (HTI) on state-owned land,” said National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brojonegoro at the DPR building, Jakarta.

“And when they obtain the concession they already know the consequences one day the concession can be taken by the state, if the state needs it,” he continued.

Bambang emphasized that the government would not provide compensation to Sukanto Tanoto when it withdrew the land concession rights for the development of the new capital.

This is because, he said, the land at Penajam Paser Utara Regency is owned by the state, not land that has been transferred to someone else.

“The point is that we are not buying and selling the land there, because the land belongs to the state,” he said.

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