Govt pospones privatization itinerary
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)