Govt pospones privatization itinerary
JAKARTA (JP): The government has postponed the privatization of PT Indosat, PT Aneka Tambang and Soekarno-Hatta Airport to the 1999/2000 fiscal year, citing various technical reasons.
But the government is committed to completing this fiscal year the privatization of Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) and Terminal Peti Kemas Surabaya in East Java.
The comments were made on Monday by Sofyan Djalil from the office of the state minister of the empowerment of state enterprises.
Sofyan said the government had extended the final bid deadline for the strategic sale of the government's stake in international call operator Indosat, to allow some changes in telecommunications regulations.
He said the privatization of Indosat required the amendment of the telecommunications law "in line with the Indonesian telecommunications industry blueprint".
"In addition, the Ministry of Communications intends to issue new telecommunications licenses to both PT Telkom and Indosat shortly."
Telkom is a state-owned telecommunications firm which retains the domestic telephone monopoly.
Sofyan said the government hoped to finalize the privatization of Indosat by July.
He said the government expected to complete the privatization of nickel and gold mine operator Aneka Tambang by August.
The delay in Aneka Tambang's deal was prompted by the government's decision to modify the company's privatization structure in order to "align with the ongoing corporatization of nickel and gold assets".
Both Indosat and Aneka Tambang are listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange. Indosat stock price dropped Rp 300 to close at Rp 11,800 while Aneka Tambang stocks lost Rp 25 to close at Rp 1,475.
In regard to Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Sofyan said the government had decided to defer the final bid deadline for the airport from March 26 to April 20 "in order to clarify pending regulatory issues".
Sofyan said the government expected to finalize and sign agreements with strategic investors for a stake in JICT, a unit of PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II, "as soon as a definitive agreement has been reached".
In February the government named Grosbeaks Pte Ltd, a unit of Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa, as the preferred bidder for a 49 percent to 51 percent stake in JITC.
The government has yet to announce the proceeds from the JITC sale. But Sofyan recently hinted that it may be in the vicinity of more than US$200 million.
Negotiations with a preferred bidder for a stake in Terminal Peti Kemas Surabaya, a unit of PT Pelindo III, "will begin shortly".
However, the government is yet to announce the preferred bidder for Terminal Peti Kemas Surabaya nor the expected revenue from the deal.
In the current fiscal year, the government has so far only sold a 14 percent share in cementmaker PT Semen Gresik to Mexico's Cemex SA for $1.38 percent per share, raising $121.5 million.
In addition, the government has sold 100 million of its 180 million shares in private food giant PT Indofood Sukses Makmur for Rp 500 billion ($56 million).
The government initially planned to raise $1.5 billion during the current fiscal year through the privatization of 12 state- owned companies. The target was later slashed to $1 billion, mainly due to bearish market sentiment. The target would again be revised due to the delay in the privatization of Indosat and Aneka Tambang, Sofyan said.
The privatization proceeds are expected to help finance the 1998/1999 state budget, which faces a huge deficit due to spending measures required to survive the economic crisis. (rid)