Agrinas Palma shakes up leadership to undertake palm oil mission

State-owned palm oil producer PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara, established just last March through a spin-off from a state-owned construction firm to refocus on the agriculture sector, has unexpectedly restructured its board of directors (BoD) and board of commissioners (BoC). The leadership shake-up comes as the company carries a mandate to manage illegal palm oil plantations seized by the government. The confiscated land, which spans hundreds of thousands of hectares (ha), was taken from companies found to have violated laws such as the Forestry Law, including several prominent palm oil firms also active in downstream production.

Agrinas Palma’s original BoD and BoC were reorganized through a joint decree issued by the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry and PT Danantara Asset Management on the appointment and dismissal of directors and commissioners, dated July 2, 2025. One of the prominent changes is the dismissal of Edi Slamet Irianto from his position as director of business and industrial development, which was restructured into the director of business and commercial affairs, with long-time palm oil player Zulham Syakwan Koto appointed to the role.

Edi’s discharge led to a controversy, as he stated that the letter of dismissal he received was signed by Danantara Chief Operating Officer Dony Oskaria, ex-officio deputy SOEs minister. Edi noted that Danantara Circular Letter No. S-049/DI-BP/VI/2025 forbids the Indonesian sovereign wealth fund from reorganizing SOEs’ leadership. In response, Dony denied signing the document, stating that it is not within his authority to make changes to SOE directors, let alone sign such a letter. He added that this could be verified by reviewing a copy of the decree. As for the leadership changes, he suggested they may be part of an organizational revitalization effort and recommended directing further inquiries to Agrinas Palma president director Lt. Gen. (ret.) Agus Sutomo.

The dispute may be part of the continued erosion of the SOEs Ministry’s authority by Danantara in the Prabowo Subianto administration. The presence of generals in Agrinas Palma’s BoC and BoD is also in line with previous placements of the president’s allies in the Indonesian Military (TNI) and fellow alumni of Taruna Nusantara high school to SOE leadership.

Zulham, who succeeded Edi, brings extensive experience in the palm oil industry. He previously held key roles at major corporations, including Cargill subsidiary Cargill Tropical Palm and PT REA Kaltim Plantations, a subsidiary of R.E.A. Holdings. He also served as chair of the Indonesian Planters Society (IPS). Zulham’s appointment may signal that the previous leadership of Agrinas Palma fell short of government expectations in fulfilling the company’s mandate to manage palm oil plantations located within forest areas seized by the government’s Forest Areas Regulation (PKH) Task Force.

The Forest Areas Regulation (PKH) Task Force seized nearly 1.02 million ha of forest land from 369 companies between February and March 2025. An additional 1.07 million ha was confiscated from 315 companies between April and June 2025, bringing the total seized plantation area to 2.09 million ha. Of this, 221,868 ha formerly owned by Duta Palma Group were assigned to Agrinas Palma as of March 10, followed by another 216,997.75 ha from 109 companies on March 26. A further 394,547 ha have since been transferred to the state-owned enterprise, bringing Agrinas Palma’s total managed plantation area to 833,413.46 ha.

With this, Agrinas Palma has become a major player in Indonesia’s palm oil plantation sector and its agricultural assets are expected to grow further as the PKH Task Force continues its work. However, mismanagement of these state assets could pose serious risks to Indonesia’s crude palm oil (CPO) output, potentially disrupting global CPO prices and triggering job losses, given Indonesia’s critical role as a leading producer.