August 18, 2023
Mr. Nobumitsu Hayashi,Governor, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
Mr. Yoon Hee-sung,Chairman & President, The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM)

Re: Request for Measures to Suspend the Loan Disbursement andMandatory Prepayment Concerning the Cirebon Coal-Fired PowerPlant Project - Expansion Plan in Indonesia
Bribery allegations have been raised since 2019 with respect to the Cirebon Coal-Fired
Power Plant Project - Expansion Plan (Unit 2, 1,000 MW) (hereinafter "Unit 2 Project")in West Java, Indonesia, for which your banks have been disbursing the loans sinceNovember 14, 2017. [1] And in March of this year, the Indonesian Corruption
Eradication Commission (KPK) indicted the former Cirebon regent in relation to a seriesof bribery and money laundering, including cases related to the Unit 2 Project, and thecourt trials have continued.
Today, the former Cirebon regent was convicted of bribery and money laundering,including the cases related to the Unit 2 Project. In addition, the testimony of witnesses
at the court trials and the statement of the defendant, the former Cirebon regent,mentioned that former senior managements of Cirebon Energi Prasarana (CERP), who isthe project proponent of the Unit 2 Project and the direct borrower of your banks, wereinvolved in bribery activities.
They are very crucial facts that bribery in connection with the Unit 2 Project was
definitely committed, and that not only Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co,(hereinafter "Hyundai"), the EPC contractor for the Unit 2 Project, but also former
senior managements of CEPR, the borrower of your banks, were also involved in the said
bribery, which have been revealed through the court trials and the verdict. We strongly
urge your banks, as official export credit agencies (ECAs), to promptly take measures tosuspend your loan disbursement to the Unit 2 Project and to enforce mandatory
prepayment of loans that you have disbursed, in accordance with the "Recommendationof the Council on Bribery and Officially Supported Export Credits” (hereinafter "OECDBribery Recommendation")[2].
In the more than 30 court trials that have taken place since March of this year, theindictment and the testimonies of up to 237 witnesses have revealed detailed
information about the massive bribery and money laundering (totaling 66 billionrupiah). The cases related to the Unit 2 Project generally include the followings(positions of the persons indicated are of that of the time of the cases);-Two senior managements of CEPR (one of them is CEPR President Director, Heru
Dewanto, and the other is Teguh Haryono) handed over 1 billion rupiah to the1Cirebon regent, requesting the Cirebon regent to ensure the smooth issuance ofthe construction permits for the Unit 2 Project that CEPR had applied for, andalso to provide support in dealing with the demonstrations against theconstruction of Unit 2. (According to the statement of the defendant, the former
Cirebon regent, 300 million rupiah was provided to the defendant, and although
the amount is unknown, money was paid directly from CEPR to "Forkopimda"(Forum Koordinasi Pimpinan Daerah: Cirebon Regent, Chief of Police, Chief ofProsecutor, Commander of Military in Cirebon regency). [3]);-Two senior managements of CEPR (same as above) introduced a few officials ofHyundai (Deputy General Manager Herry Jung, Administration Manager Kim TaeHwa, Unit 2 Construction Site Project Manager Am Huh) to the Cirebon regent.
CEPR informed the Cirebon regent that Herry Jung would continue to handle thepermit process in relation to the CEPR's application. They also asked the Cirebon
regent to support CEPR in completing the application process promptly and todeal with the demonstrations. It was also informed that the "operational funds"of the Cirebon regent would be provided by the above three members ofHyundai.

-After Herry Jung of Hyundai told the Cirebon regent again about the problems
with the construction permits and the residents' demonstrations, the regent
ordered the DPMPTSP (the Investment and One-Stop Integrated Service) to help
the CEPR accelerate the permitting process. After helping with the permitting
process, Herry Jung of Hyundai paid 50 million rupiah directly to the DPMPTSP;-The Cirebon regent requested "operational funds" to calm down the protests oflocal residents. The "funds" were to be paid by Hyundai as a contract for fictitious
consulting services (10 billion rupiah);-The Cirebon regent asked the Beber district head to let her son-in-law (who wasalso the son-in-law of the district head of Astanajapura district, where the Unit 2project is located)'s company, Milades Indah Mandiri (MIM), participate in a
fictitious contract with Hyundai. However, MIM was not a consulting firm, but
merely an event organizer company;-On June 14, 2017, a fictitious project contract (totalling 10 billion rupiah) wassigned between MIM and Hyundai for consultancy work of the Unit 2 Project;-Between June 2017 and October 2018, "funds" of 7.02 billion rupiah were paid tothe Cirebon regent in four installments by a few officials of Hyundai through
MIM;-In July 2017, the Cirebon regent and others traveled to South Korea, withHyundai covering the expenses.

For the bribery case related to the Unit 2 Project, the former Cirebon regent and aformer senior official of Hyundai had already been identified as suspects by the KPK in
2019, and two former senior managements of CEPR had also been banned fromtraveling outside Indonesia.

2Taking seriously the today’s conviction of the former Cirebon regent in the bribery caserelated to the Unit 2 Project, and the fact that several testimonies have revealed thatformer senior managements of CEPR, a borrower of your banks, were involved in thebribery, your banks must take appropriate measures including suspension andcancellation of the unutilized portion of loans, and mandatory prepayment.
With regard to the Unit 2 project, many issues have been pointed out, including theimpact on local residents, such as loss of means of livelihood and environmental
pollution; illegal processes, such as violation of the Cirebon Regency Spatial Plan and theimproper issuance of environmental permits; human rights violations, such as
harassment and intimidation against residents who express opposition and concerns;
and retrogression against climate change measures. Thus, there have been repeatedcalls for the project to be halted. To begin with, the necessity to implement the Unit 2
project in the Java-Bali power grid, which is expected to have a reserve margin of
40-60% (from 2021 to 2030) [5], has also been questioned.
In such circumstances, in November 2022, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) wassigned between the project owners (excluding JERA, which has a stake in CEPR), theIndonesian government, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the early
retirement of the adjacent Cirebon Coal-Fired Power Plant Unit 1. [6] This development
implies that the project owners, the Indonesian government, and the Japanese andSouth Korean governments, as the donors to the ADB, recognize the need to address theimminent climate crisis. The dangerous heat wave and torrential rains, which you areexperiencing right now in Japan, South Korea, and other parts of the world, should makeyou realize this even more strongly. The reasons for justifying the continuation or thestart of commercial operation of the Unit 2 Project, which has been unfairly pushed
through in a manner that also involves bribery, are now further disappearing.
Therefore, we request that your banks promptly withdraw your support for the Unit 2Project, so that the local communities, who have already suffered serious impacts on
their means of livelihood and health due to the construction and operation of the Unit 1
Project and the construction of the Unit 2 Project, will not suffer further damage.

Sincerely,Rapel (Rakyat Penyelamat Lingkungan)
WALHI West Java
Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia
Friends of the Earth Japan
Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES)
Kiko Network
Mekong Watch

Cc:
Mr. Shunichi Suzuki, Minister of Finance3

Mr. Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Mr. Atsuo Kuroda, Chairman and CEO, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI)Mr. Steven van Rijswijk, CEO, ING Bank N.V.
Mr. Hironori Kamezawa, President & Group CEO, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.
Mr. Jun Ohta, Director President and Group CEO, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.
Mr. Masahiro Kihara, President & Group CEO, Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.
Mr. Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank

Contact:
WALHI West Java
Address: Jl. Pecah Kopi No.14, Sukaluyu, Kec. Cibeunying Kaler, Kota Bandung, Jawa
Barat 40123, Indonesia
TEL: +62 22 20458503
Email: walhijabar@gmail.com

Footnotes:[1] https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/information/press/press-2017/1114-58532.html[2] https://one.oecd.org/document/TAD/ECG(2019)2/En/pdf The OECD Bribery Recommendation
recommends as “Post-final commitment” that "Take appropriate action, consistent with their national lawsand without causing prejudice to the rights of any parties not responsible for bribery, such as enhanced due
diligence, denial of payment, indemnification, or refund of sums provided, if, in relation to the transaction,
one of the parties involved is convicted of violation of laws against bribery, subjected to equivalent measures,or found as part of a publicly-available arbitral award to have engaged in bribery.”[3]
https://www.detik.com/jabar/hukum-dan-kriminal/d-6811373/aliran-dana-pengamanan-demo-pltu-2-c
irebon-yang-dibongkar-sunjaya[4]
https://ieefa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Indonesia-Wants-to-Go-Greener-but-PLN-Is-Stuck-With-Excess-Capacity_November-2021_JAPANESE_F.pdf[5]
https://www.adb.org/news/adb-indonesia-partners-sign-landmark-mou-early-retirement-plan-first-coal-power-plant-etm

4