Padang, Tonasa spin-off setback to govt program<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The spin-off of PT Semen Padang and PT Semen
\nTonasa from publicly-listed PT Semen Gresik will be a major
\nsetback to the government's state enterprises development plan,
\nexperts have said.<\/p>\n
Economist Faisal Basri said on Wednesday that if the
\ngovernment decided to separate the two companies from Semen
\nGresik, it would only heighten possibility of the companies being
\nused as a political vehicle.<\/p>\n
\"The government is promoting greater transparency, greater
\npublic ownership in state enterprises, so why does it want to
\nbring it back to a government-controlled company,\" he said in a
\nseminar about the Semen Padang and Semen Tonasa spin-off.<\/p>\n
Faisal said a government-controlled company was a ripe field
\nfor practices of corruption, collusion, and nepotism, and that
\nthey were exactly the kinds of features that the government
\nwished to banish.<\/p>\n
Another economist, Didiek J. Rachbini, also said that the plan
\nwas a major setback to the government's objective to attract
\nforeign investors into the country to help heal Indonesia's
\nailing economy.<\/p>\n
He said that a spin-off would ruin the chances of increasing
\nthe amount of foreign investment, as investors would question how
\nfar members of Indonesia's political elite could influence the
\nbusiness climate.<\/p>\n
Didiek said that investment conditions in Indonesia had now
\nreached a level where potential investors were no longer
\nquestioning the desirability of Indonesian investment, but of its
\nfeasibility.<\/p>\n
\"The government should have boosted investor confidence to a
\nhigher level. With a spin-off it would unfortunately be a step
\nbackwards,\" he said in the seminar.<\/p>\n
Faisal said that he saw the spin-off suggestion to be mainly a
\ngame of politicking, and nothing to do with Semen Gresik's
\nbusiness at all.<\/p>\n
\"It wasn't even clear who came up with the idea in the first
\nplace. Was it the government? The provincial administration? Or
\nwas it the local people's aspirations?\" he said.<\/p>\n
Faisal said that if the problem was due to the fact that Semen
\nPadang didn't provide many financial benefits to West Sumatra
\nadministration, then the local government should take the
\ncomplaint to central government.<\/p>\n
\"Semen Padang pays a certain amount of money in taxes to the
\ngovernment. What the government gives back to the provinces is
\nreally not the company's concern,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"If the problem is because the factory stood on ancestral
\nland, then the people should ask for compensation instead of
\ntaking over the company,\" Faisal added.<\/p>\n
Semen Padang of West Sumatra and Semen Tonasa of South
\nSulawesi merged with East Java's Semen Gresik in 1995 to boost
\nproduction efficiency.<\/p>\n
In 1998 the government sold 14 percent of the cement group's
\nshares to Mexico-based cement producer Cemex, which later raised
\nits ownership through the market to 25.53 percent.<\/p>\n
However, the local community of West Sumatra and South
\nSulawesi late last year demanded Semen Gresik to spin off its
\nsubsidiaries Semen Padang and Semen Tonasa after the government
\ngave a greenlight to Cemex's proposal to own a majority stake in
\nSemen Gresik Group.<\/p>\n
At present, the government holds 51.01 percent in the cement
\ngroup, the investing public 25.53 percent and Cemex the
\nremainder.<\/p>\n
Separating Semen Padang and Semen Tonasa from Semen Gresik is
\nnot so simple.<\/p>\n
Law expert Erman Rajagukguk said that the spin-off should be
\napproved by shareholders in a special meeting, where about three
\nquarters of the shareholders are obliged to attend, and another
\nthree quarters to agree.<\/p>\n
\"Furthermore, because there would be a reduction of capital,
\nthe action has to also be acknowledged by its creditors, who
\ncould take the matter to court if they refused,\" Erman said.<\/p>\n
Semen Gresik finance director Satriyo said that the company
\nwas still waiting for the government's final decision on this,
\nsaying that, as far as he knows, the government hasn't a clear
\nplan on how to carry out the spin-off.<\/p>\n
\"But we are prepared for whatever decision the government
\nmakes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
As for Cemex's position if the spin-off goes through, Satriyo
\nsaid that he was sure the Mexican company wouldn't pull out of
\nSemen Gresik. (tnt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/padang-tonasa-spin-off-setback-to-govt-program-1447893297",
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