Bakrie clinches $1.1b contract in Uzbekistan

Bakrie clinches $1.1b contract in Uzbekistan

JAKARTA (JP): PT Bakrie Communication Corporation, a subsidiary of PT Bakrie & Brothers, set up a joint venture with an Uzbekistan state-owned company to develop a telecommunication project worth US$1.1 billion.

"The contract is just the first of four planned projects in Uzbekistan, which all will need total investments of US$2.2 billion," Bakrie & Brothers' president, Aburizal Bakrie, said at the contract signing ceremony in Uzbekistan this week, which was attended by Prime Minister Utkur Sultanov.

The first project, the construction of which will be completed in five years, is to modernize some 1.7 million telephone lines from the old analog switching system to a digital system and to establish new telephone lines.

Aburizal said Bakrie Communication will have a stake of 49 percent in the joint venture, while Uzbektelecommunication will control the other 51 percent.

He said that no funds from Indonesia will be used to finance the project.

"For the first step, some US$250 million will be derived from the selling of bonds and the issuance of right shares," he said, adding that the rest will be provided by a number of international institutions. (13)